NTSB: Man Killed In Tesla Autopilot Crash Ignored Warnings

While the NTSB has not provided analysis or judgement as the case is still being investigated, some of the information revealed is worth noting.

Back in June 2016, Tesla said that the car's autopilot was active when the crash happened.

A witness interviewed by the NTSB said Brown should have seen the truck. The Model S kept going across the highway, and continued through a drainage ditch.

In his comments last September, Musk announced that software would be sent out wirelessly to update Teslas' Autopilot system.

Photos from the crash show that the roof of the Model S was sheared off in the collision. Brown died after crashing into a tractor in Florida. He added that the family has not taken any legal action against Tesla and was still reviewing the NTSB report. The report also indicated that no effort was made to slow, steer, or avoid the accident with the truck. Others blamed it all on the driver.

Tesla instructs its drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, though many ignore that admonition. After a series of three escalating warnings, it will disengage, slow the auto to a stop and turn on the hazard lights. If no torque is applied for more than a few seconds, the vehicle will ask the driver to put their hands back on the wheel, first with a message on the instrument cluster, then via a loud chime. The Model S did have computers that recorded vehicle driving data, including real-world images from a camera used by the driver-assist systems. Between 2010 and 2015, he had been cited for speeding eight times. It will also turn off Autosteer capabilities if the driver incurs three separate audible alerts within an hour.

The NTSB probes only a handful of highway accidents each year in search of broad safety lessons.

The Tesla driver involved in a fatal crash in May 2016 was given repeated automated warnings about his driving behaviour, according to a United States government report.

Brown family lawyer Jack Landskroner told Reuters the NTSB's findings prove previous reports that Brown was watching a movie at the time of the crash were false.

The forward collision warning system in the crashed Tesla could be set to varying levels of intensity; it works between 5 miles per hour and 85 miles per hour.

To be clear, NTSB is not releasing any conclusions - just the data.