Tesla driver killed while using ‘autopilot’, in first fatal crash involving self-driving car

The first US fatality using self-driving technology took place in May when the driver of a Tesla S sports car operating the vehicle’s “Autopilot” automated driving system died after a collision with a truck in Florida, federal officials said Thursday.

The government is investigating the design and performance of Tesla’s system.

Preliminary reports indicate the crash occurred when a tractor-trailer rig made a left turn in front of the Tesla at an intersection of a divided highway where there was no traffic light, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The Tesla driver died due to injuries sustained in the crash, which took place May 7 in Williston, Florida, the agency said.

Tesla said on its website that neither the driver nor the Autopilot noticed the white side of the trailer, which was perpendicular to the Model S, against the brightly lit sky, and neither applied the brakes.

“The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer,” the company said. The windshield of the Model S collided with the bottom of the trailer.

By the time firefighters arrived, the wreckage of the Tesla — with its roof sheared off completely — was hundreds of metres from the crash site where it had come to rest in a nearby yard, assistant chief Danny Wallace of the Williston Fire Department said. The driver was dead at the scene.

The company said this was the first known death in over 200 million km of Autopilot operation. It said the NHTSA investigation is a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the system worked as expected.