Fatal Tesla Autopilot crash driver had hands off wheel: U.S. agency

[JacksinPA]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ver-did-not-have-hands-on-wheel-idUSKCN1J31VP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The driver of a Tesla Inc Model X car using Autopilot did not have his hands on the steering wheel in the six seconds before a fatal crash in California in March, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

The NTSB said in a preliminary report the 38-year-old driver, who died in hospital shortly after the crash, had been given two visual alerts and one auditory alert to place his hands on the steering wheel during the trip.

The report also said the vehicle had sped up from 62 miles (99 km) per hour to nearly 71 miles (114 km) per hour in the three seconds before the March 23 crash. Five days later, the electric car’s high-voltage battery reignited and the fire department had to extinguish the blaze.
==============================================
As far as self-driving cars are concerned, the solution to the safety problem seems to be taking the idiot out of the equation.

 

[Chomsky]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ver-did-not-have-hands-on-wheel-idUSKCN1J31VP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The driver of a Tesla Inc Model X car using Autopilot did not have his hands on the steering wheel in the six seconds before a fatal crash in California in March, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

The NTSB said in a preliminary report the 38-year-old driver, who died in hospital shortly after the crash, had been given two visual alerts and one auditory alert to place his hands on the steering wheel during the trip.

The report also said the vehicle had sped up from 62 miles (99 km) per hour to nearly 71 miles (114 km) per hour in the three seconds before the March 23 crash. Five days later, the electric car’s high-voltage battery reignited and the fire department had to extinguish the blaze.
==============================================
As far as self-driving cars are concerned, the solution to the safety problem seems to be taking the idiot out of the equation.

I sure hope the car was in a secure evidence impound area, and wasn't tampered with. This is very suspicious.

 

[JacksinPA]

I sure hope the car was in a secure evidence impound area, and wasn't tampered with. This is very suspicious.

There was so much energy in the car's lithium batteries that they burst into fire days after the accident.

The key fact here is that these cars are very highly computerized & the NTSB was able to derive the data about the last minute before the crash from the event log, or black box.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ver-did-not-have-hands-on-wheel-idUSKCN1J31VP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The driver of a Tesla Inc Model X car using Autopilot did not have his hands on the steering wheel in the six seconds before a fatal crash in California in March, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

The NTSB said in a preliminary report the 38-year-old driver, who died in hospital shortly after the crash, had been given two visual alerts and one auditory alert to place his hands on the steering wheel during the trip.

The report also said the vehicle had sped up from 62 miles (99 km) per hour to nearly 71 miles (114 km) per hour in the three seconds before the March 23 crash. Five days later, the electric car’s high-voltage battery reignited and the fire department had to extinguish the blaze.
==============================================
As far as self-driving cars are concerned, the solution to the safety problem seems to be taking the idiot out of the equation.

Except it was the technology that failed.

 

[PoS]

Skynet took control of the car for a few seconds.

 

[JacksinPA]

Except it was the technology that failed.

I believe it was the idiot driver who 1) ignored visual & audible warnings and 2) was speeding and 3) should have had his hands on the wheel. The technology worked as intended but it couldn't override stupidity.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

I believe it was the idiot driver who 1) ignored visual & audible warnings and 2) was speeding and 3) should have had his hands on the wheel. The technology worked as intended but it couldn't override stupidity.

Regardless, if the driver hadn’t been marketed a virtually self driving vehicle he likely would’ve not been in the accident. Yes they can say they tell their customers to drive the car even on autopilot, but who’s going to buy a car with autopilot? Someone who doesn’t want to drive.

See the industry around self driving vehicles will claim the technology is safer then a human driver, but when their technology is in a wreck it’s the fault of the human driver.

 

[JacksinPA]

Regardless, if the driver hadn’t been marketed a virtually self driving vehicle he likely would’ve not been in the accident. Yes they can say they tell their customers to drive the car even on autopilot, but who’s going to buy a car with autopilot? Someone who doesn’t want to drive.

See the industry around self driving vehicles will claim the technology is safer then a human driver, but when their technology is in a wreck it’s the fault of the human driver.

The fault here was the driver, not the technology. He was speeding & ignoring several system warnings to put his hands on the steering wheel, which he ignored. In high speed collisions involving car vs. Jersey barrier, Jersey barrier always comes out on top & driver comes out on bottom.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_barrier

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Except it was the technology that failed.

Nope.

PRBSAC

Problem Resides Between Steering And Chair - the vehicle sounded several warnings, driver ignored them.
What would you have the vehicle do?
I view these accidents as the equivalent of "Jesus Take the Wheel".

JTTW 1

JTTW 2

JTTW 3

The only difference is, these drivers believed that Tesla, like Jesus, really was going to "take the wheel".
Tesla's EULA specifically warns drivers that Autopilot is NOT an autonomous system.

Don't ignore vehicle warnings to control your car, it's just that simple.

 

[EMNofSeattle]

Nope.

PRBSAC

Problem Resides Between Steering And Chair - the vehicle sounded several warnings, driver ignored them.
What would you have the vehicle do?
I view these accidents as the equivalent of "Jesus Take the Wheel".

JTTW 1

JTTW 2

JTTW 3

The only difference is, these drivers believed that Tesla, like Jesus, really was going to "take the wheel".
Tesla's EULA specifically warns drivers that Autopilot is NOT an autonomous system.

Don't ignore vehicle warnings to control your car, it's just that simple.

Yes, I know what the legality is, that’s not the point. The claim was originally that “the idiot” should be removed entirely, he was, and the crash resulted

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Yes, I know what the legality is, that’s not the point. The claim was originally that “the idiot” should be removed entirely, he was, and the crash resulted

Look, our 2018 Pacifica is one step below Tesla or Cadillac in terms of autonomous control.
Once we get the WAYMO package, it will be as close to 100% autonomous as it can be.
Even then, you won't see my wife or me hopping in the back to change clothes, or putting the seat back to take a snooze.
You still have to monitor the road.

What it does offer is stress relief. No constant hunting back and forth between gas and brake.
It's an assist, and that's all.
WAYMO will offer route assistance, helping us get where we're going, but still, in the end, unless some company either removes the steering wheel entirely or makes a steering wheel that retracts into the dashboard, you're still the driver.