FILE – This Aug. 8, 2018, file photo shows a Tesla emblem on the back end of a Model S in the Tesla showroom in Santa Monica, Calif. Tesla is dropping two of the seven standard colors it had offered to customers to streamline production. In a tweet early Tuesday, Sept. 11, CEO Elon Musk […]

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NTSB: Tesla Autopilot let driver rely too much on automation

by: The Associated Press

Posted: Sep 4, 2019 / 09:19 AM PDT

Updated: Sep 4, 2019 / 09:37 AM PDT

by: The Associated Press

Posted: Sep 4, 2019 / 09:19 AM PDT

Updated: Sep 4, 2019 / 09:37 AM PDT

DETROIT (AP) – A government investigation has found that a design flaw in Tesla’s Autopilot semi-autonomous driving system and driver inattention combined to cause a Model S electric car to slam into a firetruck parked along a California freeway.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the driver was overly reliant on the system and that Autopilot’s design let him disengage from driving.

The agency released a brief report Wednesday that outlined the probable cause of the January 2018 crash on a highway in Culver City.

The findings raise questions about the effectiveness of the Autopilot system, which was engaged but failed to take action in the Culver City crash and three others in which drivers were killed since 2016.

No one was hurt in the Culver City crash involving a Model S Tesla.

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NTSB: Tesla Autopilot let driver rely too much on automation