Tesla Autopilot Crash Victim Drove Mostly Hands-Free, NTSB Says
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The driver who died in a Tesla Model S using the car’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system last year spent long periods of time with his hands off the wheel, according to new National Transportation Safety Board reports.
Joshua Brown had Autopilot, Tesla’s driver-assist technology that steers, brakes, and provides emergency crash-avoidance maneuvers, engaged for the 37 minutes immediately before the crash, and his hands were off the wheel for all but 25 seconds of that time, the reports said. Brown received seven visual warnings (a steering wheel symbol lighting up on the dash) and six audible chimes alerting him put his hands on the steering wheel.
“The fact that the driver went so long with his hands off the wheel shouldn’t come as a complete surprise,” said Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports. “Despite warnings to the contrary, if a car can physically be driven hands-free, it’s inevitable that some drivers will use it that way.”
“The technology is not yet advanced enough to have primary responsibility for control of the car,” Fisher added. “That should continue to remain with the driver.”
Tesla now disables Autopilot if the driver fails to put his hands on the wheel after an alarm sounds three times.
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