Man Blames Tesla Autopilot System For Rollover Crash, Then Recants (autoguide.com)

According to AutoGuide, the driver of a Tesla is blaming the Autopilot system for a recent crash in Minnesota. "58-year old David Clark was approaching an intersection when he turned the Autopilot system on, causing the car to accelerate suddenly and veer off the road," reports AutoGuide. "The vehicle ended up on its roof in a marsh with all five occupants sustaining minor injuries." From the report: Tesla's Autopilot function is considered an SAE Level 2 autonomous system, meaning the car will accelerate and steer on its own, but the driver is expected to remain alert and intervene if necessary. In an emailed statement to Electrek, Tesla said it has yet to establish whether or not the Autopilot function was actually turned on at the time of the accident. The company also noted it is still the driver's responsibility to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle when Autopilot is engaged. AutoGuide's report was based off the information Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office received and reported. Now, it appears the Tesla driver is claiming the self-driving Autopilot system wasn't responsible for the crash, despite what he initially told investigators. According to ABC News, Clark said he was confused in the moments after the crash. After discussing the crash with his fellow passengers, he now believes that he disengaged Autopilot by stepping on the accelerator before the crash. "I then remember looking up and seeing the sharp left turn which I was accelerating into. I believe we started to make the turn but then felt the car give way and lose its footing like we hit loose gravel," Clark wrote in the email.

Comments

When will Tesla lose the name "Autopilot"?

[mykepredko]

I would think their lawyers (and hopefully marketers) cringe every time they see a story like this. The name "Autopilot" (while great) implies that nothing needs to be done by the driver so any accidents will be the car's fault, basically by definition.

Keep the "Autopilot" registered mark when they have something that works at Level 4 or 5 but for now, call it something like "Lane Keeping Assist" and eliminate the headlines "Driver killed while Tesla Autopilot Active".

Re:When will Tesla lose the name "Autopilot"?

[vought]

People using this feature freak me out when I'm riding my motorcycle into San Francisco. The normal behavior of phone-users is to brake, speed up, slow down, bounce off of the lane markers (Driving by Braille) and generally endanger those of us on two wheels.

Tesla drivers? There they are, tapping away on the fucking phone with their eyes down and the car is gliding along, centered in the lane and steady, station-keeping a safe distance form the car in front of it.

Please, more like this.

As far as people blaming cars for their own stupidity, I'll trust the engineers at Tesla, thanks. Our Audi 5000 didn't take off by itself and neither do Teslas.

Re:When will Tesla lose the name "Autopilot"?

[ShanghaiBill]

The name "Autopilot" (while great) implies that nothing needs to be done by the driver

I have heard this said many many times by people that all have one thing in common: They don't own a Tesla, and have never driven one. So it doesn't matter if it is misleading to them, since they aren't actually using it. Likewise, it doesn't really matter if you misunderstand what a aircraft autopilot does if you aren't a pilot.

Meanwhile, for those of us that actually drive Teslas, there is no way that we are stupid enough to believe that it is "hands-off" just because of the name. Anyone that uses the system can see that it requires human interaction.

"The car will tattle on the driver."

[SensitiveMale]

I said it before here https://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10765687&cid=54657685 and I'll say it again.

There is no more "he said/she said" with a Tesla. That car will tell investigators everything.

If you get into an accident driving one, everything you did is logged and will be submitted into court if it goes that far.

Re:"The car will tattle on the driver."

[Rei]

Which, IMHO, is a good thing.

If I did nothing wrong, I want my car to exonerate me.
If it was my fault, then I deserve what I have coming.

He said / she said is a terrible system.

Re:"The car will tattle on the driver."

[Herkum01]

Obviously you are not a lawyer, because "he said / she said" is numerous billing hours and courts and works out great for them and the justice system.

Re:"The car will tattle on the driver."

[Pascoea]

You've been driving this road for decades, so you know it's a long yellow light.

So you're saying, "I could have safely stopped for the yellow light, but since I know it's a long yellow I decided I could beat it." Along with all of the other "bad stuff" you mention, not driving defensively, poor hand placement, loud music, distracted driving, are all choices you make.

You may have done nothing wrong and couldn't have prevented the accident

Not doing any one of the 5 things you mentioned in your comment may or may not prevent the accident, but which one is going to look better on paper in front of a judge? Your argument is basically, if I get in an accident I don't want my car to tell the judge if I fucked up.

Why did he have to "look up"?

[jimtheowl]

"I then remember looking up and seeing the sharp left turn which I was accelerating into."

Look up from where?

At his foot to reassure himself that he was pressing the accelerator, or at at text on his phone?

Re:This shouldn't be news

[PIBM]

I once was t-boned in an intersection, during a snowstorm, while the other driver of that white car had shut off his lights to better see through the snow. He never saw the stop sign since his lights were off, and I had no way to see that someone was incoming. My car was totalled and thrown off the road.

I hit my head pretty hard on the window. Allegedly, I kind of removed the door to get out after the accident. While I do remember some things, not much, it appear that the cop asked me what I would do once he would let go of me. I replied that I would take my car and drive to meet my girlfriend. That's when he called an ambulance :)

Re:I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

[Balthisar]

Autopilot is the best excuse for a driver getting into an accident that ever was invented. "No officer, it wasn't me! My car did it on its own!"

Any time I'm in my beater Expedition (it's only 2004), I have to remind myself that the cruise control is not adaptive. After being trained by Ford's stop-and-go ACC, it's really easy to be lulled into thinking that the truck will stop instead of rear-ending the car in front of me at a red light.

I'm an attentive driver under most circumstances. Seriously attentive, as in exclude the rest of the world attentive. Except when my car trains me not to be. If I can nearly fall into the spell, I wonder how dangerous the migration is going to be for other people who drive multiple cars, some of which without autonomous features?

Stepping on the gas seems logical

[houghi]

I said logical, not good.

When you see people driving into stores, they are almost always automatic cars. I believe the reason behind this is human behavior. We know that we need to press down the pedal if we want to stop, In a panic situation what I think is happening is that people have this instinct that they need to push down the pedal. They notice that they go faster, so they press down harder.
Then before people realize they are pushing down the wrong pedal, they hit something all the wile thinking they are doing the right thing. And as they go faster, they won't be calming down to realize the errors of their ways.

With a shift, the way to break is to first lift up your foot from the gas. That would already mean you will go slower. Next you need to press down the break. So going slower is a two-step process where the first is to move up your foot. And as taking your foot of the gas also means you will go slower, you will have a bit more time to correct your foot and press down the right pedal. And if you go faster (because you press down the wrong pedal) you will take off your foot and have time to get it right this time.

I can easily imagine that people press down the gas instead of the break. However the two step process would be safer compared to the one-step process. Just human nature. That does not mean automatic cars are less safe. They are just in these specific situation.