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| © Reuters/Beck Diefenbach FILE PHOTO: The Tesla Model S version 7.0 software update containing Autopilot features is demonstrated during a Tesla event in Palo Alto |
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday that a Tesla Model S was in Autopilot mode and the driver's hands were off the wheel when it struck a fire truck in Culver City, California, one of a series of crashes the board is investigating involving Tesla's driver assistance system.
The 2014 Model S Autopilot system was engaged continuously for the
final 13 minutes 48 seconds of the trip before the vehicle struck a fire
truck parked on Interstate-405 in January 2018, the NTSB safety board
said in documents posted on Tuesday.
The board plans to issue a report detailing the crash's probable cause on Wednesday.
The
driver kept his hands off the wheel for all but 51 seconds of the final
drive segment and received numerous alerts to place his hands back on
the wheel, the documents showed. Tesla Inc did not immediately comment.
The fire truck was unoccupied and the driver was not injured in the incident.
"I
was having a coffee and a bagel. And all I remember, that truck, and
then I just saw the boom in my face and that was it," the man behind the
wheel told the NTSB.
The report says the Tesla was following a
vehicle for an extended period at a speed of around 21 miles per hour
(33.8 kph) when the vehicle ahead changed lanes seconds before the crash
After
the vehicle in front shifted, the Tesla began accelerating toward the
driver-set cruise control speed of 80 mph (129 kph) and hit the parked
fire truck while going 30.9 mph. The system did not detect the driver's
hands on the wheel for the final 3 minutes and 41 seconds of the crash.
He
did not remember precisely what he was doing at the time of the crash
but could have been changing the radio or drinking coffee. Records show
the driver was not using his cellphone to text or talk at the time of
the crash, the NTSB said.
Tesla's Autopilot was engaged during at
least three fatal U.S. crashes, including fatal March 2018 crashes of a
2018 Model 3 in Delray Beach, Florida and in Mountain View, California
of a Model X. Both of those crashes remain under investigation by the
NTSB and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agencies
are also investigating other crashes and battery fires involving Tesla
vehicles.
The crashes raised questions about the driver-assistance
system’s ability to detect hazards and has sparked concern about the
safety of systems that can perform driving tasks for extended stretches
of time with little or no human intervention, but which cannot
completely replace human drivers.
While Tesla drivers say they are
able to avoid holding the steering wheel for extended periods while
using Autopilot, Tesla advises drivers to keep their hands on the wheel
and pay attention while using the system.
In May 2016, a Tesla
Model S driver was killed near Williston, Florida, while Autopilot was
engaged, when he slammed into a tractor trailer.
The NTSB said in 2017 that Tesla lacked proper safeguards allowing the Florida driver "to use the system outside of the environment for which it was designed and the system gave far too much leeway to the driver to divert his attention."
The NTSB said in 2017 that Tesla lacked proper safeguards allowing the Florida driver "to use the system outside of the environment for which it was designed and the system gave far too much leeway to the driver to divert his attention."
