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Two Soylentils wrote in with news of a fatal accident involving a Tesla vehicle. Please note that the feature in use, called "Autopilot" is not the same as an autonomous vehicle. It provides lane-keeping, cruise control, and safe-distance monitoring, but the driver is expected to be alert and in control at all times. -Ed.
Man Killed in Crash of 'Self-Driving' Car
Tech Insider reports that an Ohio man was killed on 7 May when his Tesla Model S, with its autopilot feature turned on, went under a tractor-trailer.
Further information:
- Tesla Motors blog
- NHTSA report
- video uploaded by the victim, demonstrating use of the autopilot feature
Tesla Autopilot - Fatal Accident
Accident is reported to have happened in May, and reported to NHTSA/DOT immediately by Tesla. But not public until the end of June -- something a bit fishy about this reporting lag.
On the other hand, the accident is described as one that might have also been difficult for an alert human to have avoided:
The May crash occurred when a tractor trailer drove across a divided highway, where a Tesla in autopilot mode was driving. The Model S passed under the tractor trailer, and the bottom of the trailer hit the Tesla vehicle's windshield.
"Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied," Tesla wrote.
This was the first reporting found--by the time it makes the SN front page there may be more details. Because this is a "first" it seems likely that a detailed investigation and accident reconstruction will be performed.
(Score: 2) by black6host on Friday July 01 2016, @02:35AM
In the driver's video, in bumper to bumper traffic he states that although it's a slower drive at least he doesn't have to worry about anything. "You just let it go." I think it's quite possible if someone has spent a fair amount of time using autopilot that it would be easy to start taking things for granted.
I have no way of knowing if the driver was complacent or acutely alert when the accident happened. From his comments in the video I doubt he was acutely alert.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday July 01 2016, @03:16AM
Agreed. In fact it would be extremely difficult to maintain attention on the road for an extended period without any need to react to it. There's a name for such inactive attention: meditation. And most people find it quite unpleasant without a lot of practice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 01 2016, @08:20AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 01 2016, @03:18PM
exactly: very unpleasant without practice.