GRA wrote:BTW, we still haven't seen the NTSB's report on the causes of the accident, which is separate from the NHTSA's investigation. Unlike NHTSA, NTSB doesn't have any regulatory or enforcement authority, all they can do is make recommendations. They tend to be much more willing to point out safety problems than NHTSA or FAA, for that reason. Unfortunately, it also means that many of their recommendations get delayed or ignored for years, because (especially in the case of airliners), it costs a lot of money to retrofit an entire fleet, so the airlines usually lobby to delay or defeat such mandates.
NTSB has now opened their docket on the crash, so we're getting closer. From USA Today:
A driver killed in an accident that attracted nationwide attention while using Tesla's partially self-driving car ignored repeated warnings to put his hands on the wheel, federal investigators say in a report released Tuesday.
The 538-page report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveals fresh details about what is believed to be the first deadly crash in which an American driver was relying on self-driving technology to steer, accelerate and brake the vehicle.
The agency, which opened an investigation to explore the possibility that Tesla's Autopilot system was faulty, said it had drawn "no conclusions about how or why the crash occurred. . . ."
Jack Landskroner, a lawyer for Brown's family, said the NTSB report confirms that "baseless rumors reported in the media that Joshua was watching a Harry Potter video at the time of this horrible crash are unequivocally false."
"There was no video playing and no evidence that any electronics were in use at the time of this accident, other than his car’s operational technology," Landskroner said in an email. "We look forward to receiving the Board’s finding and recommendations related to the crash which we anticipate will be published at a later date."
Landskroner did not say whether the family would pursue any legal action against Tesla but added that he anticipates NTSB will deliver additional information at a later date.
NHTSA said in January that the driver should have seen the truck "at least" seven seconds before the collision, calling it a "period of extended distraction" and that he "took no braking, steering or other actions. . . ."
The driver used the vehicle's self-driving system for 37.5 minutes of the 41 minutes of his trip, according to the NTSB. During the time the self-driving system was activated, he had his hands on the wheel for a total of only about half a minute, investigators concluded.
Tesla has long insisted that drivers must keep their hands at the wheel, ready to take over at any time. The company, which declined to comment, has previously defended its system. But software upgrades since the accident would likely have prevented it, CEO Elon Musk has said.
NTSB said the driver received seven visual warnings on the instrument panel, which blared "Hold Steering Wheel," followed by six audible warnings. Although most attention in the crash has focused on Tesla and Brown, NTSB also quoted a witness to the crash as saying that the truck driver had sufficient time to avoid the collision. . . .
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/ca ... 411516001/The NTSB press release:
https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/PR20170619.aspx. . . The docket includes reports that cover various aspects of the investigation, including highway design, vehicle performance, human performance, and motor carrier factors. The crash reconstruction report, also included in the docket, provides a description of the crash sequence. The docket also includes interview transcripts and summaries, photographs, and other investigative material.
The docket contains only factual information collected by NTSB investigators; it does not provide analysis, findings, recommendations, or probable cause determinations. No conclusions about how or why the crash occurred should be drawn from the docket. Analysis, findings, recommendations, and probable cause determinations related to the crash will be issued by the Board at a later date. . . .
Direct link to docket:
https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitlist.cfm?docketID=59989&CFID=1126988&CFTOKEN=b1b9a5b7e849bb32-88C471C8-01C8-077F-A22C23E2E219927F Reading it now (just finished with the injuries report, which is about what you'd expect in this situation, if not quite what was widely assumed. Although the injuries are described dispassionately in medical terms, if you're at all squeamish it's best to skip that section).