US Senate Summons Tesla CEO Elon Musk Over Autopilot Crashes

When it rains, it pours. That idiom is something that Tesla is learning the hard way following three crashes involving its Autopilot autonomous system.

Tesla is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) and National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB) over the fatal crash.

The summons from the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation which sent a has told him to report to the committee by July 29, 2016, to answer questions regarding its autonomous 'AutoPilot' autonomous driving function.

Senator John Thune sent the letter and while he supports the Autopilot system, he and the rest of the committee want to know if the "the Autopilot technology was deployed safely" in the fatal crash.

The letter also stated that the issue for the committee is "whether the technology performed as intended and Tesla's actions to educate consumers on the benefits and limitations of the technology."

You can read the full contents of the letter here.