Tesla sped up just before fatal crash, report states
Huang had not been paying attention.
Huang’s family has blamed Tesla for the crash, calling Autopilot defective, and threatened to sue. Since Autopilot premiered in 2015, drivers have occasionally complained of unexpected swerves and lane changes.
According to investigators, Huang had engaged Autopilot four times during the course of his 32-minute trip, with the system running uninterrupted for nearly 20 minutes before the crash. The system had been set to maintain 75 mph, although Autopilot adjusts speed to match the flow of traffic when surrounded by other cars.
Data from the SUV’s computer showed that in the trip’s last 20 minutes, the car gave Huang two visual reminders and one audible prompt to keep his hands on the steering wheel. In the final minute before the crash, the Model X detected his hands on the wheel on three occasions, for about 34 seconds. His hands did not appear to be touching the wheel during the last six seconds.
The vehicle, which was following another in the carpool lane of Highway 101 in Mountain View, had been traveling about 65 mph as it approached the intersection with Highway 85. Seven seconds before impact, according to the report, it started steering to the left.
With a car no longer in front of it, the Model X accelerated. It struck a concrete divider that separates the 101 carpool lane from an entrance ramp for Highway 85. Although the divider had an attenuator, a device designed to lessen the severity of headon crashes by crumpling upon impact, the attenuator had been damaged 11 days earlier by another accident.
Huang’s Model X smashed into the divider at 70.8 mph, without braking or maneuvering to avoid the collision.
Drivers who stopped to help found Huang belted into his seat and pulled him out before a fire in the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery pack engulfed the Model X. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.
The Mountain View Fire Department, meanwhile, poured 200 gallons of water and foam on the SUV to extinguish the fire. The battery pack reignited five days later at an impound lot in San Mateo, forcing firefighters to extinguish flames from the SUV a second time.
Tesla declined to comment on the preliminary findings Thursday other than referring to a March 30 company blog post concerning the crash.
Attorney Mark Fong, who represents Huang’s family, said the report showed that the vehicle’s automated steering and braking systems both failed.
“The Autopilot system should never have caused this to happen,” said Fong, of the Minami Tamaki law firm.
The investigation has strained relations between the NTSB and Tesla. After a tense evening phone call in April between Musk and the board’s chairman, the NTSB announced that it had kicked Tesla off the investigation for releasing information about the crash without approval. Tesla insisted that it made the decision to withdraw from the investigation on its own and accused the board of violating its own rules.