Tesla on Autopilot sped up just before deadly crash

Three seconds before a Tesla Model X on Autopilot slammed into a concrete barrier in March in Silicon Valley, killing the driver, the car sped up, the brakes were not applied, and there was no evasive action.

Those findings were disclosed Thursday in a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board on the Highway 101 crash that took the life of Michael Huang, a 38-year-old software engineer at Apple.

The investigation is the latest to shine a spotlight into potential flaws in emerging autonomous driving technology. Another NTSB probe of a self-driving Uber Technologies Inc. car that killed a pedestrian March 18 in Arizona found that the car’s sensors picked up the victim, but the vehicle wasn’t programmed to brake for obstructions.

Still, more questions than answers remain as the safety board continues its investigation into what role the driver and the Autopilot system each played. It likely will take more than a year to determine what caused the crash, NTSB spokesman Christopher O’Neil said Thursday. Among other factors, investigators are trying to determine how the car’s camera, radar and ultrasonic sensors were working and what they weretracking.

“The focus isn’t Tesla’s technology,” he said. “The focus is on what led to this crash and how do we prevent itfrom happening again.”

According to the report, Mr. Huang had the Tesla sport utility vehicle’s Autopilot system engaged continuously for nearly 19 minutes before the vehicle hit the barrier at 9:27 a.m.