Tesla improving Autopilot

NEW YORK — Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric car company is making major improvements to the Autopilot system used by its vehicles, which will dramatically reduce the number and severity of crashes in which they are involved.

Sunday’s news comes in the wake of a May crash involving a Tesla Model S that was using the semi-autonomous mode at the time. The driver died after crashing into a tractor-trailer.

On a conference call with reporters, Musk said he thinks the improvements, which will roll out globally in the next week or two in the form of a software update, probably would have prevented that crash.

Musk called the upgrades a “massive enhancement,” but he said Tesla cars are already the safest on the road.