NTSB sends two-man team to investigate fatal Tesla autopilot crash in Florida

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said late on Friday it is sending a team to investigate Friday’s fatal crash between a Tesla Inc car and a commercial vehicle in Florida. [caption id=“attachment_5862561” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Tesla emblem on the back end of a Model S. Image: Tesla[/caption] The NTSB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating several crashes involving the use of Tesla’s driver assistance system Autopilot including a fatal crash in California in March 2018. A report on Friday’s crash released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department did not indicate if Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash that killed the 50-year-old Tesla Model 3 owner. Tesla did not immediately comment Friday. Tesla Inc’s move to dismantle its network of high-end showrooms as part of a plan to launch the long-awaited cheaper version of its Model 3 sedan has pushed the electric carmaker into uncharted territory for an industry that has long relied on physical stores to move the metal. Retailers from Amazon to Apple to traditional automakers have trumpeted the benefits of physical stores, and Apple and automakers also rely heavily on advertising, which Tesla has eschewed, making the electric carmaker an outlier in its dependence on the web. As Tesla pushes to broaden its appeal and drive up sales with the arrival of the $35,000 Model 3, the impact of the store closings announced on Thursday will play out over time, answering questions about whether a national physical footprint is necessary in an increasingly digital world, analysts and investors said on Friday.