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+--- Thread: Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver (/thread-2588.html)
Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver - Magical Realist - Jul 3, 2016
"A Tesla Model S with the Autopilot system activated was involved in a fatal crash, the first known fatality in a Tesla where Autopilot was active. The company revealed the crash in a blog post posted today and says it informed the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the incident, which is now investigating.
The accident occurred on a divided highway in central Florida when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither the driver — who Tesla notes is ultimately responsible for the vehicle’s actions, even with Autopilot on — nor the car noticed the big rig or the trailer "against a brightly lit sky" and brakes were not applied. In a tweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the vehicle's radar didn't help in this case because it "tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events."
Because of the high ride-height of the trailer, as well as its positioning across the road, the Model S passed under the trailer and the first impact was between the windshield and the trailer. Tesla writes that if the car had impacted the front or rear of the trailer, even at high speed, the car’s safety systems "would likely have prevented serious injury as it has in numerous other similar incidents."
"AUTOPILOT IS GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME, BUT IT IS NOT PERFECT AND STILL REQUIRES THE DRIVER TO REMAIN ALERT."
The accident occurred May 7th in Williston, Florida with 40-year-old Ohio resident Joshua Brown driving. The truck driver was not injured.
Tesla says Autopilot has been used for more than 130 million miles, noting that, on average, a fatality occurs every 94 million miles in the US and every 60 million miles worldwide. The NHTSA investigation, Tesla says, is a "preliminary evaluation" to determine if the Autopilot system was working properly, which can be a precursor to a safety action like a recall."====http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/30/12072408/tesla-autopilot-car-crash-death-autonomous-model-s
RE: Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver - C C - Jul 8, 2016
Deadly Tesla Crash Exposes Confusion over Automated Driving
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-tesla-crash-exposes-confusion-over-automated-driving/
EXCERPT: How much do we really know about what so-called self-driving vehicles can and cannot do? The fatal traffic accident involving a Tesla Motors car that crashed while using its Autopilot feature offers a stark reminder that such drivers are in uncharted territory—and of the steep cost of that uncertainty. [...] In addition to investigating exactly what happened in Florida, Tesla is looking into a Pennsylvania crash that took place July 1—the day after the NHTSA announced its probe—involving a 2016 Tesla Model X that may have been using Autopilot at the time of the accident, according to the Detroit Free Press. Tesla says there is no evidence Autopilot was in use during the mishap, although the Pennsylvania State Police contend the driver said the car was using the self-driving feature....
RE: Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver - Magical Realist - Jul 8, 2016
I would be a nervous wreck driving ready to take control at the first hint of computer driving error. Far better to be in the relaxed and total control mode of driving yourself.
RE: Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver - Ben the Donkey - Jul 9, 2016
Really?
Thousands upon thousands killed all over the world every year who were in "relaxed and in total control".
Jury's still out on this one, it's the first incident I know of.
So the tally sheet stands at :
Auto-controlled car deaths: 1
Manually controlled car deaths: roughly 32,000 (per year) in the USA alone.
I mean, basically, if all this guy needed to do was touch the brakes to disable autopilot (same way you turn off cruise control) then I think he pretty much got himself killed the same way everyone else at fault for an auto accident does: not paying attention.
Any money he was on his phone at the time?
RE: Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver - stryder - Sep 16, 2016
Tesla is still in the news thanks to Criticism from Mobileye (who previously worked with Tesla).
It appears that perhaps Tesla needs to re-badge their brand, rather than being "Autopilot" (which is suggesting a state of complete autonomy) it should perhaps be called "Co-Pilot" (which suggests is their to aid rather than replace a driver)
RE: Tesla on autopilot crashes and kills driver - Magical Realist - Sep 17, 2016
Quote:Really?
Thousands upon thousands killed all over the world every year who were in "relaxed and in total control".
Jury's still out on this one, it's the first incident I know of.
Fine then. Go buy yourself a self driving car and enjoy scrutinizing every maneuver the car makes for errors everywhere you go. Tell me how that works out for you. I have far more confidence in my driving abilities than in some non-intuitve machine. And the reason there's so many more accidents with driven cars than with self-driven cars is because there 10's of millions more of them. It doesn't mean they're more unreliable.