I have read the press release. What was misleading? The only thing I see that is potentially misleading where they quote the safety statistics for vehicles with auto pilot equipped.
The sentence is only relevant if it carries information content about whether the driver's hands were in fact on the wheel—the reliability of the hand detection system is not believed to be relevant to the crash in any way.
So, if the statement is actually carrying more information about the reliability of the hand-detection system when it sounds like it should be a claim about the driver's hands (the subject of the passive-voice sentence), it is misleading.
So, if the statement is actually carrying more information about the reliability of the hand-detection system when it sounds like it should be a claim about the driver's hands (the subject of the passive-voice sentence), it is misleading.