The driver of a self-driving car from Tesla was killed in a Car Crash a few months ago. The case drew a lot of attention and people blamed Tesla for devising faulty systems which may have caused the crash. However, federal investigators revealed that the driver had ignored several warnings to put his hands on the wheel before the crash occurred.
A 538-page report on the accident from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration brings to light several new details about the crash. The accident in which Ohio resident and former Navy Seal, Joshua Brown was killed in Florida, is deemed to be the first ever case of a fatal crash while the car was engaged in self-driving mode.
At the time, the driver was relying on the new technology to accelerate, steer, and brake the vehicle.
Brown ignored several warnings issued by the car
The federal agency started an investigation following claims that Tesla’s self-driving technology was at fault for the accident. They revealed on Tuesday what could have caused the car crash. The NHTSA had said in January that they had not found any defects in Tesla’s systems which the company had introduced in its vehicles.
The accident killed Brown when his Tesla Model S crashed into a truck which was in the vehicle’s path. The National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, reported that Brown’s car was cruising at speeds of around 74 miles per hour on a stretch of road where the speed limit is 65mph.
He also did not have his hands on the wheel while the self-driving systems were engaged.
Tesla has always recommended that drivers keep their hands on the wheel even while self-driving is turned on so that they can take over manual control at any time. The investigations revealed that Brown’s car was running for around 41 minutes, out of which he had engaged the Self-Driving Mode for 37.5 minutes.
However, after engaging the auto drive feature, he had kept his hands on the wheel for a total of half a minute. The NTSB stated that the driver most likely received seven visual warnings through the instrument panel to “hold the wheel,” followed by six audible warnings. All of them were disregarded.
What Brown’s family lawyer said
According to USA Today, Jack Landskroner, Brown’s family lawyer said the NTSB report proved that claims of the crash occurring while Brown was watching a Harry Potter video were false. There was no video or other electronics operating inside the car, other than those required by the vehicle itself. He, however, did not comment on whether the Brown family was considering filing a lawsuit against Tesla.
