Tesla's Autopilot Mode Reportedly Saves Pedestrian's Life (electrek.co)

An anonymous reader writes: Following reports of Tesla's Autopilot mode being linked to a fatal crash, one Tesla Model S owner is reporting that the Autopilot mode has likely saved a pedestrian's life. The driver sent an email to Elon Musk explaining the situation, which was confirmed by Tesla through the vehicle logs: "I wanted to let you know that I think my car probably saved the life of a pedestrian last night, 7/16 around 10:30pm when I was driving in Washington DC with my daughter." The driver says him and his daughter were trying to locate where sirens were coming from "when a pedestrian stepped out in front of [their] Model S in the dark with dark clothes and in the middle of the road." The car slammed on its breaks before he could and "stopped just inches from hitting the pedestrian." The driver said, "I am not sure if I would have been able to stop before hitting him but I am so glad the car did." The Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), which is standard on all Tesla vehicles and is part of Tesla's Autopilot mode, is what was at work here. It appears that many of the convenience features of Autopilot were not activated at the time of the incident. This is likely the first of many good press stories released by Elon Musk, who said he would consider releasing the stories of accidents prevented by the Autopilot mode with the authorization of the Tesla owners and by confirming the events through the vehicle logs. Elon Musk did also announce Tesla's 'Master Plan, Part Deux,' which includes new kinds of Tesla vehicles, expanded solar initiatives, updates on Tesla's 'autopilot' technology, and a ride-sharing program.

Comments

Re: Wow...

[drinkypoo]

Pedestrians only have the right of way:

by almost, if not all laws written, 1: in a marked cross walk ( convenient how this is left off in the quote all the time, no? ) and 2: only when it is safe for them to cross.

Sigh. No. The law is much more complicated than you think it is. You could look it up if you cared and wanted to be correct. Here is the really meaty paragraph:

Nine states and the District of Columbia require motorists to stop when approaching a pedestrian in an uncontrolled crosswalk. Minnesota mandates that a motorist stop when a pedestrian is in any portion of the roadway. Six states and D.C. require a motorist to stop when a pedestrian is upon the same half of the roadway or within one lane of the lane that the motorist is traveling upon, and two states require a motorist to stop when a pedestrian is upon the same half of the roadway or approaching closely enough from the opposite side of the roadway to constitute a danger.

It's really pathetic to see so many of you know so little about traffic laws, and yet presumably are driving anyway. I bet you get intersections wrong, too. Just yesterday I found myself at the intersection in front of the CHP office in Kelseyville and I had a woman make a left turn in front of me while I was making a right turn... note the lack of protected turns at this intersection. And I honked at her, and she gave me the finger. And now that I know you are totally ignorant of pedestrian crossing laws, I will conflate you with her.