Tesla will not be ordered to recall its semi-autonomous cars in the US, following a fatal crash in May 2016

After finding no evidence of a defect in the vehicle, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had no option but to close its on-going investigation.

While his car was operating in Autopilot mode, it collided with a lorry resulting to the death of Joshua Brown, reports Car Advise.

“The Autopilot mode is only designed to help drivers, who must keep their hands on the wheel”, said Tesla.

This feature was purposed to be used on the road, where it enabled cars to automatically change lanes and respond to traffic.

From the NHTSA report, data from the car showed that “person on the wheel took no barking, steering or other attempts of rescue to avoid the collision”.

‘Inattentive drivers’

The investigations found no evidence that the systems of the car “didn’t perform as designed”.

Mr Thomas said that there was “industrial-wide” concern about the way features of driver-assistance were advertised and explained to customers. They also required continual and full attention of the driver while on the road driving.

For manufacturers to anticipate how drivers would use the functionality, then it is not enough to put information in the owner’s manual and then expect the drivers to read that.

The system was to be designed in the mind of “inattentive driver”.

The safety of Autopilot was to be continually monitored and even further actions to be taken if necessary by the NHTSA.

The manufacturers were warned that if safety defects were found in semi-autonomous cars, they will be recalled. This was to be done even if the vehicles were capable of receiving over-the-air software updates.

Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk tweeted that the report was “very positive” following the closure of the investigation.