Investigation into fatal crash clears Tesla’s self-driving system

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into an accident in which a Tesla driver was killed in a crash while the car was on autopilot has concluded that the driver would have seen the tractor trailer for at least seven seconds prior to impact (See: Florida death puts big question-mark on Tesla autopilot ).

The driver, therefore, had enough time to take ''some action'' said Bryan Thomas, communications director for NHTSA, though it was not known ''whether that was enough time to avoid or mitigate the crash.''

According to the report, seven seconds was a ''period of extended distraction,'' while in similar crashes a ''much shorter time'' was generally available for both the system and driver to detect and respond to an imminent collision, usually less than three seconds.

The report described distractions longer than seven seconds to be ''uncommon, but foreseeable.''

The NHTSA did not say what the driver was doing during those seven seconds, but according to the driver of the tractor trailer truck involved in the accident the Tesla driver was watching a Harry Potter movie.

The report said, ''An attentive driver has superior situational awareness in most of these types of events, particularly when coupled with the ability of an experienced driver to anticipate the actions of other drivers. Tesla has changed its driver monitoring strategy to promote driver attention to the driving environment.''

According to commentators, the outcome of the investigation comes as a major victory for Tesla and chief executive Elon Musk, who had vigorously promoted the car's technological prowess and ability to prevent accidents. The 7 May, 2016 crash had raised doubts over the company's claims.

Meanwhile, regulators warn that advanced driver-assistance systems like the one in Tesla's cars could be only relied to respond properly in certain situations that arose on roadways.

''Not all systems can do all things,'' said Thomas. ''There are driving scenarios that automatic emergency braking systems are not designed to address.''