Driver blames Tesla autopilot for crash on Route 1

A New Jersey man is blaming his Tesla car’s autopilot feature for a crash on Route 1 North Brunswick.
Eric Carter tells News 12 New Jersey that his X-Model Tesla electric car misread the lines on the road, causing him to crash near Adams Lane.
Carter says that as he was driving north on Route 1 with his hands on the steering wheel, the car turned to the right, sending him into the median. He says that he was able to slightly correct the turn and avoid hitting a road sign head-on.
But Tesla’s website states that autopilot “is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time…it does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle, and it does not allow the driver to abdicate responsibility….The driver can override any of Autopilot’s features at any time.”
A spokesperson for Tesla says in a statement, "Safety is the top priority at Tesla, and we engineer and build our cars with this in mind. We also ask our customers to exercise safe behavior when using our vehicles.”
The statement also says, “Since we launched Autopilot in 2015, we are not aware of a single instance in which Autopilot refused to disengage.”
More information about Tesla’s safety data can be found on the company’s website.
No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported in Monday’s crash.
North Brunswick police say that Carter did not receive any tickets.