Slashdot Mirror
US Regulators Investigating Tesla Over Use of 'Autopilot' Mode Linked To Fatal Crash (cnbc.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday it is opening a preliminary investigation into 25,000 Tesla Motors Model S cars after a fatal crash involving a vehicle using the "Autopilot" mode. The agency said the crash came in a 2015 Model S operating with automated driving systems engaged, and "calls for an examination of the design and performance of any driving aids in use at the time of the crash." It is the first step before the agency could seek to order a recall if it believed the vehicles were unsafe. Tesla said Thursday the death was "the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated," while a fatality happens once every 60 million miles worldwide. The electric automaker said it "informed NHTSA about the incident immediately after it occurred." The May crash occurred when a tractor trailer drove across a divided highway, where a Tesla in autopilot mode was driving. The Model S passed under the tractor trailer, and the bottom of the trailer hit the Tesla vehicle's windshield. Tesla quietly settled a lawsuit with a Model X owner who claims his car's doors would open and close unpredictably, smashing into his wife and other cars, and that the Model X's Auto-Pilot feature poses a danger in the rain.
Tesla's autopilot mode is still in beta, so it isn't a big deal. Because it's apparently OK to sell cars that have only been beta tested at most.
Tesla noted that customers need to acknowledge that autopilot "is new technology and still in a public beta phase" before they can turn it on. Drivers also acknowledge that "you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle."
well, comparing to the worldwide rate of accident might not be reasonable. Some countries have a very high rate of accident and fatalities. One should compare to the accident rate in the same locations.
According to wikipedia [1], fatalities in driven accident in the us is about 15 per billion mile. Which also about 1 per 65 million miles.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Why didn't the radar see the truck?
The radar saw the truck's trailer, but misidentified it as an overhead sign, because it was so high off the ground.
Did the driver die?
Yes.
If so, how do we know he didn't notice the truck?
If he had noticed the truck, he presumably would have applied the brake. (we'll have to assume the driver wasn't feeling suicidal)
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
Depending on how close the truck was when it left it's lane, standing on the brake might not have helped.
The truck wasn't in a lane -- it was crossing the highway (and perpendicular to the lane the Tesla was driving in) while making a left turn (presumably from a road that intersects the highway).
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
Yes that is what appears to have happened.
Washington Post has the actual Florida Hwy Patrol traffic diagram from the accident:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/06/30/tesla-owner-killed-in-fatal-crash-while-car-was-on-autopilot/
I wonder how the car got under the trailer. Is there no regulation for trailer impact protection?
In Europe, trailers are required have strong bars on sides and back of the trailer to prevent cars getting under. The sides also must have flat covers, which improve visiblity.
Here's an example: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
There seems to be big flaw in the design of the trailer that allowed this to happen.
In the UK HGV trailers are required to have side and rear run-under prevention to stop this very thing from happening.
http://www.transportsfriend.or...