Officials have confirmed the first self-driving car death involving a Tesla S sports car where the driver was using autopilot.
“What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S,” Tesla said in a statement on their website.
“Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied,” the statement said.
The Model S went under the trailer, and the impact sheared off the roof of the vehicle.
The victim was identified as 40-year-old Joshua D. Brown of Canton, Ohio, owner of a technology company who nicknamed his vehicle “Tessy.”
“He was a friend to Tesla and the broader EV community, a person who spent his life focused on innovation and the promise of technology and who believed strongly in Tesla’s mission,” the company said.
Though the Autopilot was indeed on when the crash occurred, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the accident the way Tesla describes it:
“What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer, with the bottom of the trailer impacting the windshield of the Model S.”
Based on the description, we are talking about a freak accident reminiscent of another separate recent “Tesla Autopilot accident”, though at much lower speed, which resulted in a trailer hitting the windshield of the car without the sensors detecting it because of the height.
!snip!
Uhhh. There are holes in the autopilot experience. Don’t be jerks, Tesla.
I’ll stick to driving myself – at least I can hopefully avoid idiots instead of being the idiot.
OK, so the car didn’t “see” the white truck against a brightly lit sky.
Where’s the radar collision avoidance system?
Ultrasonics?
Yer telling me that in a car like that neither one exists???
Bueller?
The lawyers and upper management and marketing might spin it but the actual engineers are, I’m sure, crapping themselves and trying to find a way to fix it.
I saw a bit on this tech on the “new” Top Gear (sans Clarkson) and it DOES look really cool and has a lot of potential.
I agree there has to be a way to somehow notice a dozen tons of steel right in front of you… Hmm…..
But…was the truck driver muslim, gay, female or black?
Isn’t it wonderful to be on the bleeding edge of technology?
😛
Looks like those brilliant green engineers didn’t factor that in and it caused a death.
Sounds like “Tessy” doesn’t know how to drive.
Nikola is turning over in his grave.
“nicknamed his vehicle “Tessy.”
I wonder if the guy lived what would he think of Tessy now? FAIL!
Here is a progressive child’s view
http://gizmodo.com/fatal-tesla-crash-proves-full-autonomy-is-the-only-solu-1782923424
VietVet,
I see what you did there.
Driving Miss Tessy.
Tessy-O was always the smarter one, but never loyal.
Since “We The People” subsidize the purchase of each Tesla to the tune of about $40Kwoth of tax credits, will we also have to pay 40% of the cost to bury this idiot?
Wow… a $110,000 aluminum coffin on wheels.
Like the Chevy VOLT, an idea whose time may never come.
With or without autopilot, people have been getting killed in this manner since Henry Ford slapped a four cylinder on a frame. If it wasn’t a large truck with a high bed the driver most likely would have survived.
“with the bottom of the trailer impacting the windshield of the Model S”
“snapped a telephone pole a quarter mile down the road”
Yessir. That dadgum truck bed aimed right at the car like a laser guided missile. Reads like one of those lists of accident report excuses passed around years ago.
C’mon, Tesla. The first step is admitting your mistake. Nothing gets better until then. Snapping a telephone pole – maybe y’all should look at disabling the autopilot at a certain speed. That’s a lot of velocity.
if i wanted an autopilot, i’d get the one they had on “airplane”, only female.
A crash like that is SURVIVABLE at least in a Smokey and the Bandit movie!
The whole point of an autopilot is for the driver to be able to sit back and relax and watch the scenery fly by or more likely text his buddies in confidence. At least that’s the way Tesla sells it. No matter how Tesla or the Media try to spin this thing it’s going to hurt Tesla at the worst possible time for them. Investors are starting to demand real returns not just paper promises.