Fatal Tesla Crash: You may have heard that Tesla experienced its first fatal crash while operating under it's self-drive system. Self-driving Teslas have racked up over 130 million...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You may have heard that Tesla experienced its first fatal crash while operating under it's self-drive system. Self-driving Teslas have racked up over 130 million safe miles, which is well beyond the average of driver-controlled vehicles. According to Tesla's rules, he should have had his hands on the wheel and been aware of what was going on around him. Instead, he was watching a Harry Potter movie on a separate DVD player.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/01/truck-driver-involved-with-fatal-tesla-accident-says-driver-was-watching-a-movie.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/self-driving-tesla-fatal-crash-investigation.html

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

I don't see how someone could ever turn over responsibility for driving a car to an onboard self driving system. While they have done some amazing things with these systems I could never watch a movie and let the car decide if the brake should be applied or other emergency maneuver. He sure won't make that mistake again.

Rich

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

So, since the driver was doing exactly what the Manual told him Not to do why do we want to blame the self driving system for his death?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

romanticf16 wrote:

So, since the driver was doing exactly what the Manual told him Not to do why do we want to blame the self driving system for his death?

I doubt the system will be blamed, but they will want to find out why it didn't see the problem and react. As the article says, Tesla is adamant about drivers more or less driving the self-driving cars at this stage of development. They even have an automatic prompt to have them put their hands back on the wheel. Still, this will scare some people away from the self-driving concept.

FrankR Loc: NYC

Regardless of what the guy was doing, you can count on Tesla being sued up the gazoo. Unfortunately, that's the way it is in America; somebody is always looking to profit from misfortune. For me, self driving cars are a lot of time, energy and money which could best be applied elsewhere, towards something useful. The more we depend on the car to perform the tasks of driving, the worse drivers we become. Turning everything over to the car is no different than taking a bus, so why bother with owning a car? I also enjoy driving a great deal and would never even think about owning a self drive car.

melismus Loc: Chesapeake Bay Country

I don't think I could drive 130 million miles without a fatality.

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

The whole idea of self driving is far from being proven or complete. They have a LONG way to go in R&D before they can be trusted.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I am not sure what the point of a self-driving car is... some of the automatic features are nice, but I have enough trouble when my wife drives (as she does when I drive, I might add...) that I sure as heck would not turn everything over to a computer.

With that being said - the systems that prime the brakes and start to stop the car if you are too close and moving too fast could be a real life-saver, given how so many people on the freeway want to drive right up your a**. And I had a rental car a few months ago that could - in most cases - determine where the lane marker and edge of the road were at, and if you got too close it would beep. That could come in very handy for someone who was drowsy or distracted. It also did not beep if you had your turn signal on, so it might also encourage people to signal their lane-changing intentions!

PRETENDER Loc: Micanopy,Florida

Too bad they can't make a switch to turn stupidity off when the car is entered. The scene diagram sure looks like the accident could have been averted with minimum of caution. I have driven on this road a lot and it definitely wasn't the fault of the vehicle. He had to have been going like bat out hell to go clean through the trailer and go another 1/4 of mile and snap off a telephone pole.

PRETENDER Loc: Micanopy,Florida

Too bad they can't make a switch to turn stupidity off when the car is entered. The scene diagram sure looks like the accident could have been averted with minimum of caution. I have driven on this road a lot and it definitely wasn't the fault of the vehicle. He had to have been going like bat out hell to go clean through the trailer and go another 1/4 of mile and snap off a telephone pole.

machia Loc: NJ

Self driving cars ? The ultimate expression of freedom , getting in your car and getting away from it all . Taking a ride !
So now we should get into wheeled vehicles and look at our cell phones ?
What is the point in all of this ? Am I missing something here Jerry ?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

machia wrote:

Self driving cars ? The ultimate expression of freedom , getting in your car and getting away from it all . Taking a ride !
So now we should get into wheeled vehicles and look at our cell phones ?
What is the point in all of this ? Am I missing something here Jerry ?

Safety.

Duggy

I am sure Tesla would never influence the media would they. The media that got caught rigging chevy gas tanks tears ago. ma be the story is true , but I have quiet a folder deadicated to Media misinformation, or we could call the lies just that lies. People have short memories a dangerous thing to follow blindly. Remember before TV was around Radio had the majority of the US population believing aliens had landed. TV I fact check as much as possible.

machia Loc: NJ

jerryc41 wrote:

Safety.

What ever happened to being a good driver ? I'm supposed to put my life in the hands of software ?
While this is all possible , technologically , it is no way there yet . Even Navy pilots I've talked to aren't to keen on the new " Magic Carpet " system to help bring in aircraft on carrier decks at night . While helpful , having your wits about you , your hands on the stick and throttle ensures you live to fly another day .
Technology is a wonderful tool , but to sit back a totally rely on it is at this stage a little like playing Russian Roulette .
I'm happy driving my car and flying my small civilian aircraft with my eyes wide open .
Have a great weekend and Fourth of July Jerry .

oregon don

some one is missing the point, The semi pulled in front of the Tesla, the semi driver is at fault!