The driver of Tesla was involved in a fatal crash in May 2016, according to a report by the US government. The National Council for Transport Safety issued a 500-page report on the death of Joshua Brown, a 40-year-old driver of an autonomous electric vehicle. His car in autopilot mode collided with a truck in Florida.
As the investigation showed, Brown for 37 minutes of the trip kept his hands on the steering wheel for only 25 seconds. The report also says that Brown put the cruise control at 74 mph (119 kilometers per hour), which was above the speed limit of 65 miles per hour. The US authorities investigated Brown's death amid speculation about the deadly danger of self-driving technology.
In its report, the Security Council says that Brown could see the truck at least seven seconds before the accident, but he "did not do anything to avoid a collision." The report says that the car remained in the autopilot mode most of the trip, while the system seven times gave a visual warning that it is necessary to keep hands on the handlebars.
Last September, Tesla introduced an improved autopilot, which added new restrictions for off-road driving. The updated system stops the car if the driver does not respond to sound warnings. In January, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it had not found any evidence of malfunctions in the car's systems.
