Apple engineer Walter Huang died in March 2018 when his Tesla Model X SUV swerved into a concrete freeway divider in Mountain View, California, while on Autopilot. In a hearing held today by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the driver was likely distracted by playing a video game on his smartphone, according to reporting by the Associated Press.

The NTSB hearing said the cause of the car veering out of control was likely a combination of "faded lane lines, bright sunshine..., and a closer-than-normal vehicle in the lane ahead." Huang was not alerted by his Tesla's forward collision avoidance system, its automatic braking did not activate, and the cushion at the end of the freeway barrier had been damaged by a prior crash.

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However, it's worth noting that Teslas only have partially-automated systems, and NTSB staff said Huang did not attempt to break, nor steer to avoid the crash. At the hearing, Sumwalt said that you can't read, watch T.V., text, or play video games while "driving in the supposed 'self-driving' mode," despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk pushing the idea of playing games like The Witcher while on Autopilot.

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Sumwalt called for government regulations and company policies that limit the use of electronic devices within a driver's reach "unless it's an emergency," which is not an unprecedented concern given the frequency at which drivers have been pulled over for playing games like Pokemon GO. He expressed frustration that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Tesla have not acted on their recommendations from two years ago.

He compared the potential death toll in partially-automated driving accidents to the Coronavirus outbreak which has led to around 2,700 deaths according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released today. That outbreak has subsequently led to game organizations like Electronic Arts dropping out of events like the GDC.

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The NHTSA has told the NTSB it is investigating 14 Tesla crashes according to the Associated Press, but NTSB director of highway safety Robert Molloy said the administration's approach is hands-off and "misguided." The cars also face other problems when on Autopilot, like misreading road signs through their camera arrays.

Though it's unclear what the future is for regulations on self-driving vehicles, the NTSB hearing makes a strong case for drivers being attentive no matter the circumstances. In the meantime fans of video games still resonate strongly with Musk and his company, even petitioning for the Tesla Cybertruck to be in Rocket League.

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Source: Associated Press News, WHO Coronavirus Situation Report 36