Washington, – The authorities of the country revealed on Thursday that the Autopilot system controlled the Tesla Model 3 that crashed on March 1 in Florida, causing the death of its driver.
A preliminary report by the National Council for Transportation Safety (NTSB) released today concludes that the vehicle’s driver, Jeremy Beren Banner, activated Autopilot, which provides automatic driving functions, 10 seconds before impact.
The document also notes that Autopilot did not detect the driver’s hands on the steering wheel in the last eight seconds and that he did not perform evasive maneuvers to avoid the collision with a truck, when the Model 3 circulated at 68 miles per hour (109 kilometers per hour). in an area where the limit was 55 miles per hour (88.5 kilometers per hour).
In response to the report’s dissemination, Tesla today defended the Autopilot system in a statement.
“Tesla drivers have recorded more than a billion kilometers with Autopilot activated and our information shows that when it is used properly by an attentive driver who is prepared to take control at all times, drivers with Autopilot are safer” , assured the company.
The Model 3 2018 and the truck were driving on a highway. At the moment of impact, the truck was crossing lanes and got in the way of the Model 3. Banner’s vehicle was embedded against the underside of the truck and the roof of Model 3 came off.
Death Banner, 50 years old, is the fourth known in Tesla vehicles with activated Autopilot (three in the country and one in China) and his accident is very similar to the one occurred in 2016 also in Florida, when a Model S It crashed into the back of another truck.
Then, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in English, pointed out that the Tesla’s automatic emergency braking system (AEB) was not activated and that the driver “did not brake, maneuver or take any other action to avoid collision. “
The report added that the investigation “did not identify any defect in the design or performance of the AEB or Autopilot”, although it also considered that the lack of “safeguards” contributed to the death of the driver.
After the accident report in 2016, Tesla claimed that he had made changes to the Autopilot sensors to better detect objects. (EFEUSA)
