The first fatal accident of a Tesla product using the autopilot has occurred. May the driver RIP....and condolences to the family/friends. Here is the story:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...._alert-economy

A Tesla driver was killed in a collision in Florida with a tractor trailer while the vehicle was in "autopilot" mode, the company announced Thursday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was investigating the fatality to see if the autopilot system was to blame.

It is the first known fatality in more than 130 million miles driven with autopilot activated, Tesla said in a statement which also expressed condolences to the driver's family.

A white tractor trailer crossed a divided highway perpendicular to the Tesla Model S, the statement said. Neither the autopilot system nor the driver responded to the oncoming vehicle and the Model S passed under the trailer, with the windshield striking the bottom of the Model S.

 

Your link is dead Marshall.

RIP to the owner. With the way the accident sounds, even if he was on the brake he might not have had enough time to stop if he were doing 70mph or so.

 

We need to ban self driving cars!!!111!

 

Autopilot is useless unless all the cars on the road are on autopilot and they are all talking to each other in a given radius.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-car-elon-musk
I doubt a human driver could have done anything differently, plus the person could have reacted the same way as if they were driving the car.

Condolences to the families.

 

Yeah its not good.
Not all cars need it. The way it needs to be is when the time comes, a person wanting to be the pilot in control of their car should have to prove they can do it. That means not slowing down 2 miles before you see the off ramp to exit the freeway. Or drive 45 miles per hour down the left passing lane when the speed limit is 60.
And can handle the car on a race course at a certain minimum speed, and also handle it on an ice pad with real ice. People that can not handle it should not be driving and have to have an autonomous car doing the driving for them. That is the main problem that exists on all roads, driving is a skill level thing, and pretty much no one out there has the skill to do it. That is why we have the massive traffic.

 

So true. I always notice on certain parts of I-75 in Dallas the traffic slows abruptly for no apparent reason, and it is always at an exit 6 lanes to the right where people can't seem to merge onto the on ramp or the off ramp, so it slows down traffic even in the fast lane as people try to slowly edge their way over or get the hell out of the confusion. My theory is that people today truly do not know how to make decisions when driving and wait for someone else to make them for them (like someone's horn), or they are too timid to just step on it and move over into traffic. They are causing most of the issues and need to stop driving or get autonomous cars.

 

shows that you still need to pay attention even in a self driving car

 

I personally think autonomous cars will give people license to do what they already do, which is text, check Facebook and SnapChat, and talk on the phone. That means they will now feel free to engage in all of these activities and not be required to have any involvement whatsoever in the driving experience. It's scary, and autonomous cars must be perfect if that scenario is truly going to work.

I saw a news story today about a woman that was involved in an accident that killed her young daughter and two nieces. They found Facebook posts made by her just prior to the accident. She was found innocent due to icy roads, but I'll bet if she hasn't been on Facebook she could have better handled them.

 

An extremely unfortunate incident and it shows that the tech needs to be fixed. Sadly one driver had to pay with his life.

But if you analyze the number of drivers who have accelerated into tractor trailers on highways crossing the roads you will see that it's far higher than Tesla's autopilot statistic. Most drivers in my redneck burg are idiots and have done this over and over again.

The fix would be a higher contrast camera to understand what is happening up front. But like any good aircraft pilot, you should be ready to take over the vehicle at all times.

 

You are assuming the average driver is intelligent enough to do that.

 

Honestly can't really blame the auto pilot system. Granted, there may be a chance that if the human intervened, they maybe could have swerved or done something to minimize the impact. But that is too many ifs, ands, and buts. It may be distasteful to say, but people die from car accidents on a minute basis, and 1 out of all the hours of autopilot driving is a small statistic. Its sad that there is a death here, and I wish the family the best, but it could have happened without the system.

 

Looking at Tesla Autopilot videos on YouTube, it seems that a lot of drivers think they can let the car drive itself without having to pay any attention to the surroundings. It's just a more advanced form of adaptive cruise control and you still need to keep your hands close to the wheel and your foot near the brake.

 

Yes....I don't now why. It was fine when I posted it.

Here's another link.


http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/30/12...nomous-model-s

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."
Some autonomous driving experts have criticized Tesla for introducing the Autopilot feature so early, with a Volvo engineer saying the system "gives you the impression that it's doing more than it is." In other words, the car handles most situations so smoothly that drivers are led to believe that the car can handle any situation it might encounter. That is not the case, and the driver must remain responsible for the actions of the vehicle, even with Autopilot active. Several automakers working on systems similar to Autopilot — GM with Super Cruise, for instance — have only tested the feature privately and have said they won't deploy until they're ready.

Volvo has said that it will take full legal liability for all its cars when they are operating in fully autonomous mode, and plans to launch a limited trial of its autonomous Drive Me technology next year.

NHTSA issued the following statement to The Verge:

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation is opening a Preliminary Evaluation of the design and performance of automated driving systems in the Tesla Model S.
NHTSA recently learned of a fatal highway crash involving a 2015 Tesla Model S, which, according to the manufacturer, was operating with the vehicle’s ‘Autopilot’ automated driving systems activated. The incident, which occurred on May 7 in Williston, Florida, was reported to NHTSA by Tesla. NHTSA deployed its Special Crash Investigations Team to investigate the vehicle and crash scene, and is in communication with the Florida Highway Patrol. Preliminary reports indicate the vehicle crash occurred when a tractor-trailer made a left turn in front of the Tesla at an intersection on a non-controlled access highway. The driver of the Tesla died due to injuries sustained in the crash.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation will examine the design and performance of the automated driving systems in use at the time of the crash. During the Preliminary Evaluation, NHTSA will gather additional data regarding this incident and other information regarding the automated driving systems.
The opening of the Preliminary Evaluation should not be construed as a finding that the Office of Defects Investigation believes there is either a presence or absence of a defect in the subject vehicles.

 

that's U.S. 75 i believe, not I-75 which runs from Florida north.