85 y/o man died in his Tesla after he drove into a pool.

[jerry33]

With regenerative braking, my reflex to stop is to lift my foot off the pedal, then only hit the brake when needed.

If the driver had just lifted his foot in time, the car would come to a complete stop before the pool, especially with creep off.

It takes a rather steep grade for my car to stop just using regen. (Creep off, regen standard)

 

[Mark Z]

It takes a rather steep grade for my car to stop just using regen. (Creep off, regen standard)

True, but in this situation the car crashed through the garage. That should help stop the car if you lift the right foot in time.

In any case, if the vehicle lands in the pool, brace yourself, unbuckle the seat belt, open the window ASAP or break the window, escape or climb out.

 

[MsElectric]

I assume the air bags deployed when the vehicle first crashed into the wall.

Would it make sense to apply full emergency braking by the car automatically in such a situation? If the air bags deploy it is not as if at that time the driver can even see where the car is going so why not stop as quickly as possible?

 

[woof]

Not much if you just press it and let go. But if you hold it down it activates the emergency brake. However, it doesn't overpower the accelerator pedal.

And you discovered this how?

I was told this by the delivery guy back in the stone ages (2012), and since then I've actually tried it during an advanced driving class trying to get the rear's to lock up during skid training on a wet figure eight track. I was driving, the instructor I was with was pressing the park button. I've also tried it just by myself to verify the e-brake function works without the accelerator pressed. It does...but it isn't very strong.

However, if you hold the "park" button down, yet continue to press the accelerator at the same time the "beep beep beep" of the two pedals pressed warning occurs, and the accelerator will easily override the e-brake.

 

[redox]

I have some insight in the brake/accel pedal mixup thing. I've done it once before in my Tesla, and i'm not elderly (41). Fortunately, there was nothing but yard in front of me... but it was scary. What I think people don't realize is the exact process which happens, and why these accidents can be so bad like this one.

If you have your foot on the brake, and your car starts moving -- what is your natural instinct? Press harder on the brake. That's what's happening. Even before you can process what's happening.

In your head:

- I'm pressing the brake
- Oh crap, the car is still moving. I need to press harder.
- Suddenly you are flooring the accelerator before you even think about it
- X moments later. Oh crap, I'm pressing the accelerator. Then you let go and slam the brake.

The "X" moments reaction time may vary depending on how old you are etc.... and in a Tesla, you will be moving pretty fast.

It happened to me and I ran into the wall in the far end of my garage. I didn't compute what happened at the time as everything worked out of "muscle memory".
And no, I'm not that old and/or uncoordinated. I drive many cars, been driving for very long, do track days, early 40s... I could not believe the gas/brake mixup happened to me, but it's the only explanation that makes sense.

I also didn't get why the car didn't prevent the collision as all sensors clearly see everything well during "normal parking" and detect the walls very well.
If the car doesn't want to prevent the collision, it would be nice if it provided a user interface for "small adjustments", either with the wheel dials or with the screen, where you could have the car move exactly by the same amount that you drag your finger on the screen (for super-precise movement, since I need to align a laser beam with a spot on the car to ensure exact parking).

 

[winnie]

oh, what a sad news It seems the console and the seat belt didn't work, the news said. But I think it may be the old man is too old, he didn't controlled well the car. All these just guess, Amen.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

Could a seat belt be made to release automatically when a vehicle starts to fill up with water?

Intuitive idea ... but wrong. You want to remain fully buckled until the car comes to a complete stop. It's very easy to become disoriented under water, especially if it's dark. If the driver moves around in the car or car turns around the driver, it could be very difficult to find and operate the door handle by touch alone. Remaining bucked keeps you in a fixed position relative to the door. Of course I am taking this information from training on escaping an submerged aircraft, but I believe a submerged car is similar enough that it applies.