Tesla Investigated After First Fatal Crash ‘Caused By Self-Driving Car’

American authorities are to investigate supercar maker Tesla over what is believed to be the first fatal crash caused by a self-driving car.

Joshua Bown, 40, died in his Tesla Model S after colliding with a lorry - while using the car’s ‘autopilot mode’.

Tesla’s autopilot mode allows the car to change lanes and react to traffic without input from the driver.

Tesla said in a statement that the Model S car failed to recognise, ‘the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky.’

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is to investigate whether there are safety issues with the autopilot.

Tesla said, ‘This is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated.

‘Among all vehicles in the US, there is a fatality every 94 million miles. Worldwide, there is a fatality approximately every 60 million miles.’