Tesla: Self-Driving Vehicle Crashed After Improper Highway System Repair

April 2, 2018— The vehicle in a fatal crash last week in California was operating on Autopilot, making it the latest accident to involve a semi-autonomous vehicle, Tesla confirmed.

Tesla said on Friday, the crashed vehicle had autopilot engaged with adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum.

The driver had received visual and audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver's hands were not detected on the wheel prior to the collision.

The reason this crash was so severe is because the crash attenuator, a highway safety barrier designed to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, had been crushed in a prior accident without being replaced.

Tesla said the company had never seen this level of damage to a Model X in any other crash, according to the press release.

The collision occurred on Friday, March 23.