Tesla Model S A Tesla Inc. Model S electric vehicle is displayed during the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 50th Anniversary Technology Symposium and Showcase in Riverside, California, on Thursday, May 17, 2018. (Photo: Dania Maxwell/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) – The Tesla Inc. Model X that crashed in California earlier this year while being guided by its semi-autonomous driving system sped up to 71 miles an hour in the seconds before the vehicle slammed into a highway barrier, investigators said Thursday.

A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary report on the March 23 crash raises new questions about the capabilities of Tesla's semi-autonomous driving system and the actions of the driver. His hands were detected on the steering wheel only 34 seconds during the last minute before impact and he had programmed the car to drive at 75 mph, the report said.

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