Driver at fault in fatal crash

When Joshua Brown’s Tesla slammed into the side of a tractor-trailer last year at more than 70 mph, the fatal accident became the world’s first known car crash involving a partly autonomous vehicle.

Now, government investigators say that in the minutes leading up to the collision, Brown was audibly warned six times to keep his hands on the steering wheel. He was also warned visually, seven times, on his Tesla’s dashboard.

In all, Brown had his hands off the wheel for 90 percent of his final drive, according to Tesla vehicle data reviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency has released a roughly 500-page report detailing the facts of the case, but declined to provide a final judgment because the investigation is continuing.

Included in the evidence are details about the highway, both vehicles involved and information on Brown’s activities immediately before the accident.

Brown’s final drive in his Tesla lasted 41 minutes, according to the report, and 37 were spent with Autopilot enabled. Autopilot is Tesla’s highend cruise control that can help a vehicle stay in its lane semi-autonomously. The company declined to comment on the report.

Tesla requires its drivers to keep their hands on the wheel even when Autopilot is engaged. But Brown appears to have ignored those warnings, even as he manually increased the autopilot’s speed 2 minutes before he crashed into the truck, according to the report.

Earlier reports by the safety board on the crash have concluded that in addition to going handsfree for the majority of the trip, Brown also made no effort to brake, steer or otherwise avert the deadly accident.