The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on a fatal March 23 crash involving a Tesla Model X using Autopilot near Mountain View, Calif.
Investigators leveraged data pulled from the car’s computer that shows the driver’s hands were on the steering wheel for just 34 seconds during the minute before impact.
Data also showed that the Model X sped up to 71 miles per hour just before hitting a highway barrier. Tesla issued a release in March that included most of the info in the report. Tesla said “the driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive” and the driver had about five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete…but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken.”
The NTSB report said the crash remains under investigation, with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar crashes. No pre-crash braking or evasive steering movement was detected, according to the report.
“Tesla Autopilot does not prevent all accidents — such a standard would be impossible — but it makes them much less likely to occur,” Tesla wrote in its March post. “It unequivocally makes the world safer for the vehicle occupants, pedestrians and cyclists.”
Read the full report here.