Tesla owner Joshua Brown was driving 74 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone along a four-lane, divided highway in Central Florida, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board. It has said Brown’s death is the first known fatality in over 130 million miles driven with autopilot, while there is a USA traffic fatality once every 94 million miles for cars not using autopilot.
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is also investigating the crash, has previously said the Autopilot was engaged.
Unlike many other manufacturers that are incorporating laser-based lidar sensors into their self-driving systems, Tesla has eschewed lidar, electing instead to focus on cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors. The agency said the Florida Highway Patrol and Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) are parties to the ongoing investigation.
The NTSB report offered few new details about the May 7 crash near Williston, Florida.
“The car’s system performance data also revealed the driver was using the advanced driver assistance features Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer lane keeping assistance”, a statement from NTSB said. That’s where Brown was driving – US 27 west of Williston – when a tractor-trailer turning left crossed into the car’s path. The auto was also equipped with automatic emergency braking.
News of the abrupt ending to the longstanding partnership is particularly unexpected, especially given reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently spent some time in Israel taking a look at Mobileye’s next-gen technology.
The NTSB said Tuesday that its investigators used “three-dimensional laser scanning technology” to document “the crash location, the damaged semitrailer and the damaged vehicle”.
Mobileye shares, which have been wildly popular with institutional and tech investors, were down 7.7% prior to the close of the day’s trading yesterday at $45.50, after the Israeli company said its contract with Tesla would not be renewed.
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The tractor-trailer, which was transporting a load of blueberries to a local farm, sustained only minor damage. The agency, however, said it typically takes about a year from the time a preliminary report is released for a finalized version to be completed. Brown, a former Navy SEAL, was declared dead at the scene.
