Here's the latest on the federal investigation into Tesla's first fatal Autopilot crash (TSLA)
William Wei, Business Insider
Tesla got some extra time to get its ducks in a row for a federal investigation into the first known fatality while a Tesla was driving in Autopilot.
A Tesla Model S was involved in the first known fatal crash while Autopilot was activated May 7, prompting two separate government investigations — a preliminary evaluation of Tesla's Autopilot system by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a homicide investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.
On July 8, NHTSA submitted an information request to Matthew Schwall, Tesla's director of field performance engineering, requesting data from Tesla as part of the NHTSA investigation into Autopilot that was due August 26.
The document requests that Tesla state how many alleged defects the company is aware of that relate to Forward Collision Warning or Automatic Emergency Braking. It also asks for any tests Tesla has done or plans to do of those two Autopilot systems as well as any changes Tesla may have made that could result in the alleged defect.
Tesla did not complete the information request on time, asking NHTSA for a one-week extension. A NHTSA spokesperson told Businesss Insider that Tesla was granted the extension and that Tesla must submit the requested data by Friday.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
William Wei, Business Insider
NHTSA declined to give any estimate as to when the investigation will close, stating that "the agency never puts a deadline on open investigations because it takes however long it takes to do a thorough job."
A spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol told Business Insider earlier in August that the homicide investigation into the fatal Autopilot crash was slated for completion by the end of August. Steven Montiero, a community safety officer for the Florida Highway Patrol, said no new information is expected for another one to two weeks.
As such, both federal investigations into the Tesla fatal accident have suffered delays.
Joshua Brown, a 40-year-old Canton, Ohio, resident, was the victim of the Tesla crash. The accident occurred when Frank Baressi, a 62-year-old resident of Tampa, made a left turn in his semi-truck in front of Brown's Tesla Model S.
Tesla wrote in a blog post at the time that the Autopilot system did not notice "the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied." The Tesla then drove under the trailer, cutting off its roof, and crashed into two fences and a pole before stopping.
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