Another Tesla driver is blaming autopilot for a serious crash

People know Tesla as an innovative auto company, who is both expanding the use of electronic cars and developing a reliable autopilot mode for their vehicles.

But this week it’s known as the company of autopilot crashes.

Joshua Brown was killed in Florida on May 7 when his car hit a tractor-trailer while in autopilot mode. The public didn’t find out about that incident until June 30, and in between that time Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold $2 billion worth of Tesla stock at a public offering.

On July 1, the day after that report went public, Albert Scaglione said his car was in autopilot mode when it crashed and rolled onto its roof on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Scaglione was driving with his son-in-law, Tim Yanke, and told police he had activated the autopilot feature. The car hit a guard rail on the right side of the roadway and then crossed the eastbound lanes and hit the concrete median. The Tesla Model X then rolled onto the roof in the middle of the eastbound lane, and a piece of debris hit another car. No one was hurt in the crash.

A Pennsylvania State Police officer told the Detroit Free Press that Scaglione would likely be cited for the crash, but he declined to specify the charge. The publication noted that the Pennsylvania Turnpike is notorious for its narrow shoulders that “leave little margin for driver error.”

There is no evidence that the driver’s autopilot malfunctioned, according to the report.

Tesla’s autopilot feature is still in beta mode, and the company tells drivers that when the vehicles are in self-driving mode operators of the car should still have their hands on the wheel and be alert. Developers of the feature have said self-driving cars will cut down on crashes significantly in the future.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 8:33 AM with the headline "Another Tesla driver is blaming autopilot for a serious crash."