Car ‘autopilot’ fatality

The first US fatality using selfdriving technology took place in May when the driver of a Tesla S sports car operating the vehicle’s “Autopilot” automated driving system died after a collision with a truck in Florida, federal officials said yesterday.

The government is investigating the design and performance of Tesla’s system.

Preliminary reports indicate the crash occurred when a tractortrailer rig made a left turn in front of the Tesla at an intersection of a divided highway where there was no traffic light, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

The Tesla driver, an Ohio man, died due to injuries suffered in the crash, which took place on May 7 in Williston, Florida, southwest of Gainesville, the agency said.

Tesla said on its website that neither the driver nor the Autopilot noticed the white side of the trailer, which was perpendicular to the Model S, against the brightly lit sky, and neither applied the brakes.

“The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer,” the company said. The windshield of the Model S collided with the bottom of the trailer.

By the time firefighters arrived, the wreckage of the Tesla — with its roof sheared off completely — was hundreds of feet from the crash site, where it had come to rest in a nearby yard, assistant chief Danny Wallace of the Williston Fire Department said.

The driver was pronounced dead.