Tesla driver killed in collision while car on autopilot

The first U.S. self-driving car fatality occurred in May, when the driver of a Tesla S sports car using the vehicle’s automated driving system died in a collision with a truck in Florida, federal officials said Thursday.

Preliminary reports indicate that a tractor-trailer rig made a left turn in front of the Tesla at an intersection of a divided highway where there was no traffic light, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Tesla said on its website that neither the driver nor the autopilot sensors noticed the white side of the trailer, which was perpendicular to the Model S, against the brightly lit sky, and neither applied the brakes.