WASHINGTON: A driver killed in the May 7 crash of a Tesla Motors Inc car while using Autopilot driving-assist software was exceeding the speed limit, US highway safety investigators said on Tuesday in a preliminary report that did not state a probable cause.
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said its preliminary findings showed the Model S was traveling at 120ph in a 105-kph zone at the time it struck a semi-truck near Williston, Florida.
Joshua Brown was killed when his vehicle drove under the tractor trailer. It was the first known fatality involving a Model S operating on the Autopilot system that takes control of steering and braking in certain conditions. The accident increased scrutiny of automated driving technology.
The report said the NTSB confirmed the Model S driver was using the advanced driver assistance features Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer lane-keeping assistance at the time. The NTSB has not yet determined the probable cause of the crash.
The initial police report into the crash estimated Brown's speed at 105kph. Speeding alone would not be considered the cause of a vehicle crash, but could be a contributing factor, said NTSB spokesman Christopher O'Neil. "All aspects of the accident remain under investigation," O'Neil said, adding that the agency will typically release a final report about a year after the preliminary report.
Palo Alto, California-based Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chief executive Elon Musk has repeatedly said the company has no plans to disable the feature.
In related news, Tesla is going to build its own computer vision chips, which will see it splitting up with Mobileye, its supplier for the components. At present, Israeli-based Mobileye is supplying the hardware that is part of Tesla's semi-autonomous system.
Mobileye was also in the news recently when it hooked up with Intel and BMW to build self-driving cars. The BMW self-driving car is expected to be ready by 2021.
