Tesla Inc. defended its semiautonomous Autopilot system in the wake of a fatal crash last month, blaming the incident on the driver after his family hired a lawyer to explore legal options.
Walter Huang died on March 23 after the Model X sport-utility vehicle he was driving southbound on Highway 101 near Mountain View, Calif., collided with a barrier and was struck by two other vehicles. The auto maker a week later said that the SUV’s Autopilot was activated in the moments leading up to the crash and that the driver’s hands...