Federal Probe Finds Tesla’s Autopilot Contributed To Fatal Crash

Joshua Brown was killed in May 2016 when his Tesla crashed into a tractor-trailer in Florida while the self-driving software was active. Brown had not tried to control the car in two minutes, and the Autopilot didn’t brake to avoid the collision. The Tesla Autopilot wasn’t designed for the road Brown was driving on, and drivers are expected to watch the road and take control as needed. Tesla Autopilot is not designed to handle the entire job of driving. The investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board criticized Tesla for allowing Autopilot to be activated on roads it can’t handle, and for how it determines whether drivers are engaged.