Tesla’s advanced driver assist system, Autopilot, was active when a Model 3 driven by a 50-year-old Florida man crashed into the side of a tractor-trailer truck on March 1st, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) states in a report released on Thursday. Investigators reviewed video and preliminary data from the vehicle and found that neither the driver nor Autopilot “executed evasive maneuvers” before striking the truck.
Tesla supposedly requires that drivers keep their hands on the wheels at all times, and there's some easily bypassed system which performs some check, but keeping your hands on the wheel doesn't do much if your "autopilot" system goes rogue at 65 MPH. You can't react fast enough even if you are paying attention.
There's a lot to be said about this. A big thing is that no matter what the fine print says, Musk likes to suggest that these driver assist features are much more capable than they are. And since they push out software updates regularly, there's no authority performing any actual safety checks on these things. Also, given the regular updates, drivers can't even get used to how the system "behaves" as it changes.
Tesla wants to have it both ways - their system is awesome and safe and can drive itself if ever it goes wrong it's the fault of the driver.