Tesla recognized mode confusion is a problem where users mistakenly think the car is in Autopilot. There were known issues with drivers ignoring warnings about Autopilot disengagement. Prior to 2018, the company lacked proper tracking of Autopilot crashes. A statistician testified that Tesla's safety claims were not backed by valid data. Non-Tesla crashes are counted based on police reports without proper context, and the misleading claims about safety persisted on Tesla's website for years. The trial may proceed despite potential settlement negotiations.
Tesla clearly recognized that mode confusion is an issue - this is where people think the car is in Autopilot and don't understand that the Autopilot has disengaged.
Prior to this accident, it was known to Tesla that they were having problems with people ignoring their warnings.
Mendel Singer noted that he was 'not aware of any published study, any reports that are done independently... where [Tesla] actually had raw data and could validate it to see does it tend to make sense'.
Tesla kept misleading claims about safety on its website for years, Singer pointed out, which would have been a really quick and easy rejection for peer review.
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