Auto-Pilot Accident at 80mph - Totaled Car

[dkoi3d]

This happened last week, going 80 on an interstate I always drive home on with autopilot engaged. In the far left lane next to the concrete median. Not sure what happen as its all a blur, but per witness and from what I can recall the car just suddenly drifted left and hit the median. I don't remember any beeps going off and I always just hold the bottom of the wheel. Regardless, tesla has already pulled the logs and will be about 3 weeks to see what actually happened. Luckily, I hit no one else and the safety of that car had me walk way with just a broken nose and 2nd degree burns on my arms (probably from air bags). All the airbags deployed in the car and insurance is looking at it today.

Pics: Imgur


If anyone knows how to get into the car since there is no power...not sure if battery is destroyed just need to charge it let me know.

 

[Az_Rael]

Yikes! Glad you are OK. Will be interested to hear what Tesla says.

I think you will have to jump the 12V to get into the car at the yard. As an alternative, you could have AAA or similar come out and use one of the inflatable bags on the door to access the mechanical release inside.

 

[acoste]

Control arm failure maybe.

 

[Russell]

Even though AP has successfully navigated the lane with a concrete barrier, I still would not trust it.

If the bodyshop is Tesla approved, they should know how to power up the car. The 12v charging posts are behind the front bumper.
When you (or they) have it on, you should reset the settings to erase your personal data.

 

[SMAlset]

So sorry to see and happy to know you are basically okay. Surely scary at that speed and actually surprised not more damage along the driver's side, bad enough I know. Your car is a Model S and same color as ours. And see that your Pano roof is open. .

As for AP do you think there was consistent markings on the edge of the road where it happened? Good luck and let us know how bad insurance thinks it might be. I know you think it's totaled but wondering what $ value they assign the damage. Also how you gain access inside. Is the hood able to be lifted?

Do you have your Blackvue footage?

 

[gilscales]

Have always bent wary of using autopilot next to concrete dividers, I have had to many reactions like you describe

 

[CHRGIT]

When I totaled my Model S, I had the Tesla mobile service tech come to the tow yard and open the car. He opened the trunk, frunk and glove box. Your car is probably a total, so any damage from prying open doors and compartments will not make a difference.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

I always just hold the bottom of the wheel.

Ok, let me be the a-hole here but if your hand was on the wheel and you were watching the road why didn't you feel the car drifting left?

 

[SMAlset]

Traveling that fast to go maybe two feet or more over...too little time to react. And understandable if OP would have sensed the movement in a few seconds, but after the impact, his recollection of what happened immediately before gets compromised, so not to say he didn't sense it. He did say his memory was kind of a blur.

There are sections here of Hwy 101 up the peninsula that I think the concrete barriers are uncomfortably close to the left lane edge even if you are driving slower. Personally I would consider lanes close to barriers to be akin to construction zones and not AP-smart and just deactivate it in those areas.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

Traveling that fast to go maybe two feet or more over...too little time to react. And understandable if OP would have sensed the movement in a few seconds, but after the impact, his recollection of what happened immediately before gets compromised, so not to say he didn't sense it. He did say his memory was kind of a blur.

There are sections here of Hwy 101 up the peninsula that I think the concrete barriers are uncomfortably close to the left lane edge even if you are driving slower. Personally I would consider lanes close to barriers to be akin to construction zones and not AP-smart and just deactivate it in those areas.

Still inexcusable. Any time I am in a situation like that were I would have very little reaction time if AP misbehaved, I am holding constant torque in the "safe" direction. That way if I feel the wheel start to move toward the barrier/wall/truck, I can prevent any movement in that direction.

Sensed the movement in a few seconds? That is way too much time to sense any movement. If it takes more than 300-400ms, you are out of the loop and reckless.

 

[Tam]

...Not sure what happen...

Since others have answered your question on how to access your car's cabin, I'll just comment in the proper way to prevent this in the future.

Since Autopilot is beta and not a final product, it is really beta and this is exactly what you expect it to happen sooner or later.

There have been numerous accidents and handful fatalities with improper use of Autopilot.

I place at least one of my hands on the steering wheel and use the weight of my arm to create a constant counter torque.

That way I can feel how the automation is doing and correct it seamlessly if something like your case went wrong.

My dog even contributed to the monitoring of the automatic torque by adding its weight to create a constant counter torque:

 

[Rockster]

Still inexcusable. Any time I am in a situation like that were I would have very little reaction time if AP misbehaved, I am holding constant torque in the "safe" direction. That way if I feel the wheel start to move toward the barrier/wall/truck, I can prevent any movement in that direction.

Sensed the movement in a few seconds? That is way too much time to sense any movement. If it takes more than 300-400ms, you are out of the loop and reckless.

No insult intended to the OP and I'm glad he's okay but this post is exactly spot on. If I'm using AP next to a concrete barrier, which is something I'm disinclined to do anyway, I do exactly as Gimn describes, hold the wheel with torque applied in a safe direction. And not just when near a concrete barrier. The safest way I've found to use AP is to "steer" the car along with AP and any time my torque disagrees with AP, the system disengages in favor of my torque.

 

[SMAlset]

Still inexcusable. Any time I am in a situation like that were I would have very little reaction time if AP misbehaved, I am holding constant torque in the "safe" direction. That way if I feel the wheel start to move toward the barrier/wall/truck, I can prevent any movement in that direction.

Sensed the movement in a few seconds? That is way too much time to sense any movement. If it takes more than 300-400ms, you are out of the loop and reckless.

That's why it's called an accident (he had driven this same road and probably same lane over and over) and people learn from their mistakes. I'm glad that OP cared enough to share his experience so others can hopefully learn from it. Don't think we need to come down hard on him. Totalled car, broken nose and air bag burn sounds bad enough to me.

 

[SMAlset]

Since others have answered your question on how to access your car's cabin, I'll just comment in the proper way to prevent this in the future.

Since Autopilot is beta and not a final product, it is really beta and this is exactly what you expect it to happen sooner or later.

There have been numerous accidents and handful fatalities with improper use of Autopilot.

I place at least one of my hands on the steering wheel and use the weight of my arm to create a constant counter torque.

That way I can feel how the automation is doing and correct it seamlessly if something like your case went wrong.

My dog even contributed to the monitoring of the automatic torque by adding its weight to create a constant counter torque:

I would hate to see you in an accident and your dog goes flying. Saw a dog once go flying out of the back of a pick up truck and even in cabin they can get severely injured. Plenty of dog owners on here who take their dogs with them.

 

[Lloyd]

80 mph on autopilot 1.0 next to a concrete median????? Really?

 

[PhilDavid]

This happened last week, going 80 on an interstate I always drive home on with autopilot engaged. In the far left lane next to the concrete median. Not sure what happen as its all a blur, but per witness and from what I can recall the car just suddenly drifted left and hit the median. I don't remember any beeps going off and I always just hold the bottom of the wheel. Regardless, tesla has already pulled the logs and will be about 3 weeks to see what actually happened. Luckily, I hit no one else and the safety of that car had me walk way with just a broken nose and 2nd degree burns on my arms (probably from air bags). All the airbags deployed in the car and insurance is looking at it today.

Pics: Imgur


If anyone knows how to get into the car since there is no power...not sure if battery is destroyed just need to charge it let me know.

Sorry to hear about your loss and glad to hear you are okay!

I concur with others that it is best to treat AP as a hands-on aid with slight torque where you want the car to go, especially where there are medians, gore points, and heave traffic. You are very fortunate this accident was with a median and not a gore point.

Can you post on Google Street View where this happened?

 

[dark cloud]

80 mph on autopilot 1.0 next to a concrete median????? Really?

Well I do this all the time. But as others have said, I have driven this car long enough on AP to know when I can relax, and when to grip the wheel tight as if AP is not even engaged.

 

[Ande]

Exactly, I too drive daily on narrow bridge or otherwise close to steel crash barriers , and I am just extra aware of it, especially during winter and snowy or dirty roads, where following traffic, not lines can result in less precise placement.

 

[Eevee]

Just from my limited experience driving my Tesla I feel like the autopilot features are most useful in the middle lane of a three lane freeway, so that's where I tend to drive. I also have actually slowed down and now drive at about 70 or 75 when using autopilot (rather than the 80 I used to drive) because I honestly just don't trust autopilot enough and feel like the extra reaction time necessary to correct an autopilot mistake warrants a slower driving speed.

I looked through the model S manual that I received when I got my car and there's no warning about driving next to a concrete median. You are all acting like this is a big no-no that all Tesla owners should know about, but it's not. Here's what I found in the manual that's relevant, and I bolded the portions I think are most appropriate for this accident:

Autosteer is intended for use only on highways and limited-access roads with a fully attentive driver. When using Autosteer, hold the steering wheel and be mindful of road conditions and surrounding traffic. Do not use Autosteer on city streets, in construction zones, or in areas where bicyclists or pedestrians may be present. Never depend on Autosteer to determine an appropriate driving path. Always be prepared to take immediate action. Failure to follow these instructions could cause damage, serious injury or death.

When Autosteer is able to detect lane markings, it also displays the driving lane in blue.

If Autosteer is unable to detect lane markings, the driving lane is determined based on the vehicle you are following. In most cases, Autosteer attempts to center Model S in the driving lane. However, if the sensors detect the presence of an obstacle (such as a vehicle or guard rail), Autosteer may steer Model S in a driving path that is offset from the center of the lane.

Warning: Autosteer is not designed to, and will not, steer Model S around objects partially or completely in the driving lane. Always watch the road in front of you and stay prepared to take appropriate action. It is the driver's responsibility to be in control of Model S at all times.
​

A standard concrete median would not be what I would call "a construction zone" or guard rail acting as an obstacle. I don't think all this advice about avoiding using autosteer next to concrete medians is helpful. Nor do I agree with this 'counter torque' stuff, which could easily cause over-correction and lead to an accident.

I think the lesson here is to look at your dash for the blue lines. When you don't see them, be extra cautious and/or disengage autosteer.

The lack of blue lines is what could cause the car to veer off. If the car in front of it swerved or drifted onto the shoulder, and there weren't clear lane markings, the Tesla might swerve or drift too and perhaps rain or overreaction by driver did the rest. I'm curious to hear what Tesla discovers about the crash. Maybe it was something else entirely.

 

[Ludalicious]

Since others have answered your question on how to access your car's cabin, I'll just comment in the proper way to prevent this in the future.

Since Autopilot is beta and not a final product, it is really beta and this is exactly what you expect it to happen sooner or later.

There have been numerous accidents and handful fatalities with improper use of Autopilot.

I place at least one of my hands on the steering wheel and use the weight of my arm to create a constant counter torque.

That way I can feel how the automation is doing and correct it seamlessly if something like your case went wrong.

My dog even contributed to the monitoring of the automatic torque by adding its weight to create a constant counter torque:

The airbag would destroy that dog! There are way more safer places in the vehicle