Self Defense
Auto driving data, such as that used by Tesla, is proving powerful in self defense. After a crash in Houston that killed two occupants of a Model S, neither according to authorities in the driver’s seat, Elon Musk has tweeted that data logs for the vehicle showed the autopilot wasn’t turned on. If so, Houston authorities have a puzzle to piece together of how a vehicle was driving at high speed with no one behind the wheel. Tesla, on the other hand, has a strong position as long as the cellular connection to the vehicle was operating properly. This is important to the company because it has staked itself deeply into self-driving technology, and each failure opens the door for regulators to investigate and impose sanctions. Tesla’s data logs on each of its vehicles are strong facts for PR and government relations. The company can legitimately help recreate the cause of an accident by knowing what a driver and car were doing up to a collision. The logs can save Tesla hundreds of millions in punitive damages.
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