Tesla Removes 'Self-Driving' From China Website After Model S Crash

Following the furor over the accident in the US, Tesla had released a blog post where it said, "When drivers activate Autopilot, the acknowledgment box explains, among other things, that Autopilot "is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times," and that "you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle" while using it.

Tesla Model S Dashboard

The China crash occurred earlier this month when the Tesla Model S missed a parked vehicle on a Beijing commuter highway. While the incident caused damage to both the cars, no injuries to the drivers were reported. A Tesla spokeswoman told Reuters, "At Tesla we are continuously making improvements, including to translations. We've been in the process of addressing any discrepancies across languages for many weeks. Timing had nothing to do with current events or articles."

The term in question, "zidong jiashi," which translates to self-driving and also means autopilot, along with other references to Autopilot was taken off the web page for the Model S sedan by Sunday. The site now uses a phrase that translates to 'self-assisted driving'.