Tesla, U.S. Officials Investigate Deadly Calif. Crash

DETROIT (AP) — A missing or damaged safety shield on the end of a California freeway barrier worsened the impact of a crash involving a Tesla SUV that killed a man last week, the electric car maker said on its website. The company also said in the statement that it doesn't know what caused the Model X to crash Friday on U.S. 101 near Mountain View, and it's also unsure if the SUV was operating on its semi-autonomous "Autopilot" system. Tesla said it's working with authorities to recover logs from the damaged SUV's computer. The SUV was traveling at "freeway speed" when it hit the barrier near Mountain View. The California Highway Patrol says the SUV caught fire for unknown reasons. The 38-year-old driver was pulled from the vehicle by rescuers and later died at a hospital. On Wednesday, the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates road safety, said it would send investigators to California. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates crashes and makes safety recommendations, already has dispatched a two-person team. Tesla's semi-autonomous system is designed to keep a vehicle centered in its lane at a set distance from cars in front of it and also can change lanes and brake automatically. Photographs taken of the SUV show the front of the vehicle was obliterated. Its hood was ripped off and its front wheels were strewn on the freeway. Two other cars were involved in the crash, but their drivers were not reported injure...
Source: JEMS Operations - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Operations Source Type: news