Third Tesla accident blamed on autopilot. USA Today (7/11, Gardner, Bomey, 6.31M) reports that “for the third time in two weeks, a Tesla electric vehicle has crashed with the driver telling authorities that the car’s Autopilot self-driving system was engaged at the time.” Tesla “said that it is looking into the crash and could not confirm whether Autopilot was a factor.” According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the driver “said he activated the car’s Autopilot driver assist system at the beginning of the trip.”

        Digital Trends (7/11, Glon, 354K) reports that the “Tesla owner is blaming” the accident “on the company’s semi-autonomous Autopilot technology.” A message posted on the Tesla Motors Club forum “explains that his friend was traveling in a Model X at about 60 mph in a 55-mph zone with Autopilot turned on when the crossover veered off the road and hit a wooden guardrail.” The article mentions that the NHTSA has not yet commented on this crash as it is already investigating two other accidents involving Tesla cars.

        CNET News (7/11, Musil, 609K) reports that the autopilot feature “failed to detect an obstacle in the road.” Tesla has yet to comment on the accident. Also reporting on the story are Motor Trend (7/11, Pleskot, 7.17M), BGR (7/11, Epstein, 223K), the Detroit Free Press (7/11, Gardner, 1.02M), Road and Track (7/11, Silvestro, 3.55M), Fusion (7/11, 413K), Jalopnik (7/11, 633K), AutoGuide (7/11, 34K), Autoevolution (7/11, 5K), Hot Hardware (7/11, 1K), and Gas 2.0 (7/11, 3K).