Tesla says new autopilot system would have prevented fatality

SAN FRANCISCO - A manufacturer of electric cars Tesla Motors said on Sunday that an update of its semi-automatic driving system Autopilot will use advanced radar to improve the ability to prevent hits and probably would have prevented a fatality involving the use of the system in May.

The Autopilot 8.0 will temporarily suspend the use by system users if they do not respond to sound warnings.

"We're doing a much more effective use of the radar," he said the chief executive of Tesla, Elon Musk in a conference call with reporters. "There will be a dramatic improvement in system security made entirely through software."

The Autopilot Tesla, released in October, has been subject of intense scrutiny since it was revealed in July that a driver of the Tesla Model S using technology was killed in May in a collision with a truck. The agency that manages the traffic safety in the United States are investigating the incident.
Musk warned that the improvement "does not mean perfect security".

"Perfect security is really an impossible goal," he said. "It's about improving the likelihood of security. There will never be zero fatalities, there will never be zero accidents."