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Tesla Whistleblower Calls Cars With Autopilot “Experiments on Public Roads”

Lukasz Krupski’s “experiments in public roads” remark was his assessment, not a regulator’s verdict. Here’s how it fits with U.S. driver-assistance guidance and NTSB findings.
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“Experiments in public roads” was former Tesla employee Lukasz Krupski’s characterization of cars using Autopilot—not an official finding that every use of the system is unsafe. His comment raises a serious question about testing and supervision, but the evidence needs to be read by source: Krupski’s allegations, Tesla’s own figures, and investigators’ findings each say different things.

What did the Tesla whistleblower say?

In a BBC interview reported by Ars Technica on Dec. 5, 2023, Krupski said: “I don’t think the hardware is ready and the software is ready.” He added that people on public roads are “essentially experiments in public roads,” including pedestrians who do not drive Teslas. Ars Technica’s report identified Krupski as a former Tesla employee.

The report said Krupski leaked thousands of Tesla documents, including accident reports and internal communications, and that Tesla took legal action over the leaked information. It also reported his claims that he raised workplace safety concerns and was subsequently harassed, threatened, and fired. Those are allegations attributed to Krupski and the report, not findings established here. Krupski received Blueprint for Free Speech’s 2023 Whistleblowing Prize; that recognition provides context, but does not independently verify each claim.

Is Tesla Autopilot self-driving?

No. NHTSA distinguishes driver-assistance systems from fully automated driving. Its current U.S. guidance says that even the highest level of driving automation available to consumers requires drivers’ full engagement and undivided attention. It says no fully automated vehicle is currently available for sale in the United States. Autopilot is a branded driver-assistance suite; its name does not remove the driver’s responsibility to supervise the vehicle.

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See NHTSA’s Automated Vehicle Safety guidance for the agency’s explanation of automation levels and current consumer-vehicle capabilities.

What did investigators find in a fatal Autopilot crash?

The NTSB’s completed investigation of a May 7, 2016 crash in Williston, Florida, concerns one specific collision—not every Autopilot trip. A 2015 Tesla Model S using Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer, which are part of the Autopilot suite, struck a turning semitrailer; the Tesla driver died.

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The NTSB identified the truck driver’s failure to yield and the Tesla driver’s inattention due to overreliance on vehicle automation as combined causes. It also found that the vehicle’s operational design permitted prolonged disengagement from driving and use inconsistent with manufacturer warnings. Read the NTSB’s Williston crash report for the investigation and probable-cause finding.

What safety concerns have agencies raised?

Operating limits and driver monitoring

In an Aug. 16, 2021 statement, the NTSB said it had recommended evaluating Tesla Autopilot’s operating limits, foreseeable driver misuse, and risks of use outside the system’s intended design domain. It also called for safeguards to limit Level 2 automation to designed conditions and for standards for driver-monitoring systems. NTSB Chair Jennifer L. Homendy said, “it’s important that NHTSA has insight into what these vehicles can, and cannot, do.” These are recommendations and oversight concerns, not a blanket determination that every Autopilot use is unsafe. The NTSB statement gives the agency’s position.

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Broader automation risks

The NTSB’s broader vehicle-automation summary discusses limits in detecting hazards and predicting other road users’ movement, automation complacency among monitors, and the lack of federal safety risk-management requirements for public-road testing. These are agency findings about the broader vehicle-automation landscape; they should not all be presented as Tesla-specific findings. See NTSB investigative outcomes and recommendations.

A dated federal investigation phase

In June 2022, Ars Technica reported that NHTSA’s engineering analysis was examining crashes involving Tesla Autopilot and first responders or road-maintenance vehicles, including questions about driver-supervision risks and human factors. That article describes the investigation at that time; it is not a statement of its current status. Read the June 2022 account.

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How should Tesla’s crash-rate figures be interpreted?

Ars Technica quoted Tesla’s Q4 2022 Vehicle Safety Report as saying there was one crash for every 4.85 million miles driven while drivers were using Autopilot, compared with one crash per 1.4 million miles in Tesla cars without Autopilot enabled. These are Tesla-reported figures for that reporting period, not an independent comparison or proof that Autopilot caused or prevented crashes. The figures alone do not establish equivalent driving conditions, driver behavior, or a causal safety effect. Ars Technica’s account of Tesla’s figures provides the attribution.

How to weigh the different claims

  • Krupski’s comment: a whistleblower’s assessment and reported allegations about Tesla.
  • Tesla’s crash-rate comparison: a company-reported statistic for Q4 2022.
  • NTSB’s Williston report: a completed investigation with findings about one fatal crash.
  • NTSB recommendations and NHTSA guidance: agency statements about oversight, limits, and driver responsibilities.

Keeping those categories separate avoids turning a warning, a company statistic, or a single crash finding into a broader conclusion than its evidence supports.

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