The Tesla electric vehicle driving in semi-autonomous mode when it crashed and killed its driver was speeding just ahead of impact with a tractor-trailer, a preliminary probe showed Tuesday.
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Brown’s 2015 Model S crashed into the trailer of a semi-truck on May 7, and Tesla informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Joshua Brown, 40, a tech company owner from Canton, Ohio, was using the vehicle’s cruise control and lane-keeping features at the time, the report said.
Mobileye’s technology helps power Tesla’s Autopilot feature, which has come under scrutiny since a fatal crash that occurred in a Telsa Model S in which Autopilot was engaged.
Mobileye N.V., the largest supplier of camera-based advanced driver assistance safety systems, said on Tuesday that its agreement to supply Tesla Motors Inc. with systems used in its Autopilot driver-assist system wouldn’t continue beyond the current product cycle.
Federal investigators probing the deadly wreck in Florida of a Tesla auto that was using automated driving technology have found that the vehicle was speeding when it hit a truck.
“Mobileye’s work with Tesla will not extend beyond the EyeQ3”, executives said on the company’s earnings call. It is unclear when the contract ends, but a new Mobileye system-called the EyeQ4-comes out in 2018.
It was also equipped with automatic emergency braking that is created to automatically apply the brakes to reduce the severity of or assist in avoiding frontal collisions. The NTSB has not yet determined the probable cause for the crash. Reports revealed that the electric car’s self-driving technology was not able to detect a cutting tractor trailer due to the white color of its side, and the resulting impact led to the driver’s death. Tesla’s driver-assistance system uses cameras, radar and other sensors to react to hazardous situations and position the vehicle within lane markers.
The NTSB report said that after the Tesla Model S passed under the trailer, it continued for nearly 100 yards before striking a utility pole.
On the other hand, following Mobileye’s breakup announcement, the Wall Street Journal reports that Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk issued a statement, saying that the split from Mobileye does not affect the future of Tesla’s autopilot development.
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Earlier this month Mobileye announced a partnership with BMW and Intel Corp.to design a system for fully autonomous vehicles by 2021.
