A Tesla Model S which apparently had its ‘Autopilot’ mode engaged slammed into the back of a stopped firetruck on a Los Angeles Freeway on Monday. Now, both the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are sending out investigators to find out what happened.
According to a report from the Culver City Fire Department, the Tesla was driving on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles County when it struck the back of a stopped fire truck while traveling at 65 miles per hour. Incredibly, no one was injured.
The driver of the Tesla told the fire department that his car was in ‘autopilot’ mode at the time of the crash.
A Tesla spokesperson didn’t confirm whether or not Autopilot was activated, but did reiterate that “Autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver.”
The spokesperson also pointed out that before they can even use Autopilot, all Tesla users need to agree to keep their hands on the wheel “at all times.” If a driver’s hands are off the wheel for too long, an alarm will beep. If the car still doesn’t detect a driver’s hands, it will slow down, pull over, and come to a stop.
While both the NTSB and the NHTSA are investigating the crash, only the NHTSA has the power to force action on the part of the automaker, and only after a formal investigation. While NHTSA investigations are rare, this will be the second investigation by the NHTSA into an accident involving a Tesla in autopilot mode.
In a statement, the NHTSA said that it was dispatching a team to “investigate the crash and assess lessons learned.”
If they decide that it’s appropriate, the NHTSA can issue a fine or even order a recall of unsafe vehicles.
Source: ttnews, wired, reuters, latimes, latimes, washingtonpost, bloomberg, bloomberg, CulverCityFD
And people want more and more autonomous vehicles on the road……
Glad no one was hurt – this time.
And thousands of people are killed by inattentive drivers, but I don’t hear a recall on them or at least a revision of drivers-ed. Any new tech is going to have growing pains.
Driver’s education has been discontinued in many schools and school districts, for financial reasons.
Budget, academic fundamentals testing tied to funding, and liability concerns have all contributed to the rollback of education in the arts, responsible citizenship, and basic life skills such as cooking, tax filing, job and housing search skills, and yes; driver’s education.
We only hold someone financially responsible for mistakes, when we can easily determine that someone is available to hold responsible, who has the resources to make doing so, financially worthwhile. Who do you hold responsible for failing to teach people how to drive responsibly, that has the resources to make them lawsuit-worthy? And what incentive does anyone have, to offer driver training, if doing so makes them an attractive target for lawsuits?
Agreed. The point is fewer accidents. Of course autonomous vehicles will have accidents but they’ll have fewer. The autonomous trucks that yard jockey for us here are awesome even in the deepest snow and ice. If anything they’re too careful. I’m wondering if the driver is telling the truth. I’m thinking not.
not the fist for tesla . Tough to say this but maybe more accidents with injuries are needed to gtet them off the roadways .
Not gonna happen-
The NHTSA will fully exonerate Tesla….. You watch
Follow the greasy money trail
Meet George Jetson….his wife Jane…
Only a few will understand this.
And his son Tesla (Elroy)
Spacely Sprockets!!
Actually, it was “Jane, his wife”. We get the meaning, though. Robots will never replace common sense.
This is the same company that is in such a hurry to get their ‘self-driving’ trucks (which would be 100% more lethal with 1 small miscalculation or glitch) out on the road amongst the people? Please.
Last time, Tesla tried to put some blame onto the truck with the white trailer.
Are they going to try to blame the fire truck this time?
Yes, they will
The investigators are already bought and sold- like prostitutes.
The policy makers WANT autonomous- they WILL get it…. At ALL cost.
Since this is happening with Tesla’s cars imagine the destruction with a fully loaded tractor trailer. NONE of the autonomous vehicles of any size or configuration should be allowed on the public highways until they get rigorously tested under every conceivable hazardous condition. NOT COMPUTER GENERATED CONDITIONS! I’m talking about out on the test tracks, hands-on, real crash experience. Just like the old fashioned testing of aircraft. With enough padding drivers can bailout without too much damage.
My question is- why would anyone want to drive one if you have to have both hands on wheel with full situational awareness at all times anyway?
Why bother- just another goofy gimmick to zombify us even further.
That’s like saying why have cruise control…
Cruise control only regulates speed. Autonomous vehicles are supposed to control all aspects of driving: speed, lane changes, direction of travel, response to “unforeseen conditions”.
I think technology will continue to develop along the line of autonomy, and eventually someone will have a truly viable hands off vehicle. But I think it is much further off than ardent adherents would have you think.
In my thinking, the real test of how these vehicles are accepted will revolve around their interaction with non autonomous vehicles.
Specifically, these vehicles are programmed to keep a safe distance which is deemed to be about 1.5 seconds. If that gap closes up, the vehicle will slow down to regain this safety gap.
Think how frustrating it will be to the persons riding in the autonomous car as it continues to slow down because other vehicles keep cutting in front as they change lanes and don’t follow the 2 second rule.
Theoretically, a 30 minute commute will become 40 or 50 minutes. How will the owners of these vehicles feel about technology then?
Until the great majority of vehicles on the road are autonomous, this would continue to be a problem and human nature being what it is, will vote for cars that they drive. Not some computer.
These types of problems will slow the entry of big trucks into the world of autonomous, a the public outcry will be too much for legislators to ignore.
I think we have a long way to go before any of us need worry about our jobs.
Good post!
Your right, at that rate I might as well take Amtrak
:))
Likely, this will result in legislation to isolate driver-equipped vehicles from driverless ones. Liability law will be written to favor the driverless vehicles, removing driverless ones by economic penalty, and/or roads will be designated driverless-only.
Money will vote for driverless, and money’s vote counts for more than people’s. Money drives bureaucrats who are not answerable to people, and it drives elected officials who make decisions in closed chambers, without listening to people. It also drives judges, who also make decisions without being answerable for them, to anyone.
Money will decide the issue, whether people like it or not. It will take time, and a lot of people will get hurt, but people have been more expendable than money, since trade using money became a generally accepted practice.
Hmm. I wonder what would’ve happen if it was a Tesla semi instead of the car………… they would most likely blame the truck driver as usual right??. Smh
HAL 9000!
Thankfully no one was injured.
Sounds to me like autopilot/computers are trying to wipe out the human race.
Anyone who has done real research will know that autonomous vehicles are inevitable. Within 20 years, all vehicles (including retrofitted classics) will be required by law.
Google’s self driving car has driven over 1.5 million miles, and been involved in 13 accidents. Only one was the vehicles fault (sideswiping a bus to avoid sandbags in the road). Human beings are dangerous. They kill 30,000 people in vehicle accidents in the U.S. each year, and injure a million more. They kill a million people worldwide annually.
The technology is still in its infancy, so there are bound to be imperfections and accidents, but the fact is that a properly designed computer is capable of observing everything in a 360° radius, continuously, without any distractions.
I know that drivers, like myself, want to keep their jobs, but every employer who can replace an employee with an adequate machine must do so to remain competitive. Those who don’t are put out of business by their competition that does. A machine can work 24/7/365. They don’t work better on Tuesdays than they do on Fridays. Don’t require breaks, days off, vacations, health care (other than occasional maintenance), and can increase their performance with a software update.
Socialism is inevitable. We’ve been replacing people with machines since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Within the next 100 years, computers will be able to process information as fast as the human brain, program themselves, and design other machines to complete almost every human task. The trade of labor and creativity for financial reward will become obsolete.
In a perfect world this would create a cashless utopia, where human beings could follow their passions, with all of their needs provided by machines, but unfortunately the world is filled with people who are self-centered, and will harm others for their own best interest.
And they’re wanting to put automated trucks on the road.
Riiiiiight.
sounds like Tesla is going to put this all on the driver,hmmm
The car was distracted. It was watching the pink Corvette in the other lane.
And they want to put this crap on big trucks. *eye roll*
Ok, both hands on the steering wheel, and laying your head on your arms across the steering wheel, asleep. Just like 99% of any driver has done at some point of their career. I always used a pillow after my newbie experience of falling asleep like that parked 30+ years ago off the side of the road on a ramp. I woke up screening standing on the brakes having a heart attack when in my aroused aroused state I thought the trailer backing up in front of me parking also, was a me having a slow motion rear end collision because I fell asleep.
Sounds like someone was texting and needed an excuse for ramming a fire truck….
My money says the driver messed up. He’s playing stupid he doesn’t want to take responsibility