Tesla driver using autopilot killed in crash

A Tesla driver was killed in a collision in Florida with a tractor trailer while the vehicle was in "Autopilot" mode, the car maker announced Thursday. It is the first known fatality in more than 130 million miles driven with autopilot activated, Tesla said in a statement which also expressed condolences to the driver's family. Bryan Thomas, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said it was investigating the fatality to see if the autopilot system was to blame. But Tesla acknowledged that the accident might have been the fault of the computer. The crash occurred May 7 when Joshua David Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, was behind the wheel of his black 2015 Model S Tesla, while in Autopilot mode on U.S. Route-27 in Williston, Fla., and hit the side of a tractor trailer that was crossing the road to make a turn.