Renowned automotive engineer Sandy Munro believes it would be criminal for Tesla to hit the pause button on its self-driving car technology following a fatal crash this weekend … because it’s still doing way more good than harm.

Sandy says this is simply an unfortunate reminder that the driver-assistance tech is not perfect yet — which is why self-driving cars are not operational — but he thinks it’s getting there.

Much like Elon Musk did this weekend before the fatal Tesla wreck, Munro points out that vehicles with driver-assistance are already 8 times less likely to get into a crash than regular ones … and in a very short time of being tested.

So, he strongly opposes any sort of knee-jerk reaction to what happened in Texas … because he believes Tesla’s Autopilot and similar features in other cars are making driving safer by and large.

As we reported … cops say the 2 men who died in the fiery Tesla crash Saturday night were not driving the vehicle, but were instead in the passenger seat and rear seat when it failed to navigate a turn, ran off the road and slammed into a tree.

Worth noting — Tesla warns that the Autopilot and full self-driving capability are “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.”

As we reported, law enforcement is working with Tesla to gather info about the car in Texas to determine what caused the crash.