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Tesla Model S In Fatal Autopilot Crash Was Going 74 MPH In a 65 Zone, NTSB Says (latimes.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Los Angeles Times: The Tesla car involved in a fatal crash in Florida this spring was in Autopilot mode and going about 10 miles faster than the speed limit, according to safety regulators, who also released a picture of the mangled vehicle. Earlier reports had stated the Tesla Model S struck a big rig while traveling on a divided highway in central Florida, and speculated that the Tesla Autopilot system had failed to intervene in time to prevent the collision. The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report Tuesday that confirms some details of the May 7 collision, along with a photo that shows the car with its windshield flattened and most of its roof sheared off. The federal agency also included a photo of the big rig, circling an area on the right side of the tractor-trailer that showed the light damage the truck received from the collision. The 2015 Model S was moving at 74 mph, above the posted 65 mph speed limit, when it struck a 53-foot trailer being pulled by a Freightliner Cascadia truck. Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot driving feature was engaged, the report says.
It's a Cruise-Control-like system so I would assume it goes at the speed that the driver sets it at and then seeks to keep that speed. 74mph is 1mph under 10 over, which everybody knows is the 'real' speed limit and I bet is a common setting for people using Cruise-Control.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. . . . . . . .
I think obstacles that are empty below 3 ft confuse the car.
http://bgr.com/2016/05/11/tesla-model-s-summon-crash/
I have also heard of the car running into 1/2 open garage doors.
Apparently brakes were not applied. They believe it was a combination of the trailer being a solid light gray color that tended to visually blend in with the sky, coupled with the radar being designed to ignore large flat signs that cross above the road. So the trailer managed to be filtered out as an hazard and was ignored by the software.
If the trailer had adhered to european safety regulation it would have at least side rails under to prevent cars being stuck underneath it. Not only would it have saved the car's driver it would also prevent the trailer from being detected as sign.