Crash impact conversations outside the forum.........

[NikeWings]

I was crash-impact-WOWed today...........while at a major intersection, I gave a few bucks to a homeless man. He soft saluted and asked if I was driving a Tesla. After nodding my head, he asked if it was the same car that had its roof ripped off. After nodding again and wondering where was this going, he said 'I think these streets would be safer if there were more of these cars.' I asked why and he replied 'because man is arrogant and machines are not. When I was in Nam, arrogant men lost lives trying to outsmart machines. And even when machines failed us, they still saved us many times more.' I asked how he knew of it and he pointed to newspapers underneath his backpack and walked away back over to his post. God, I hated to drive away.

Wondering what type of crash discussions or perspectives others are encountering. Thought provoking, judgmental, techincal or otherwise.

 

[trils0n]

Another forum I frequent has a discussion thread about it. Most people seem to think that it is better to have driver assist safety features than not, but there are some haters/trolls that just spew nonsense (batteries are toxic waste/Tesla loses $4k on each car/no such thing as climate change, etc). Some people seem to think Autopilot = autonomous/self-driving, and once they are told it is not, it is just like an airplane autopilot where the pilot is responsible for the plane, and must pay attention, they get it and come around.

 

[NikeWings]

Yep lots going on here and that's probably why I found an outsider's comments so profound. I'm guessing he had no skin in the game, but who knows.

 

[mikeash]

That's pretty amazing. Incredible insight from someone who was clearly profoundly affected by his experiences. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AB4EJ]

Well, our buddy in Florida who got killed was reportedly a former Navy SEAL, and was (overly) accustomed to trusting his life to technology. We have to remember that the MS is a consumer product, not an F-35 with $50 million of systems in every car.

Still, considering how poor the average driver is, Autopilot (and similar systems) is/are surely good enough to reduce the overall fatality rate on our nation's roads.

 

[TaoJones]

And that's the hard truth. You won't hear about the many accidents that DriverAssist* prevented, and, by extension, the injuries and deaths reduced or eliminated.

But I'll bet we hear about every Tesla fatality from now at least until they reach double digits. DriverAssist or no DriverAssist.

I wonder if the first death while cruise control was engaged (back in the day) received this much media attention and idle speculation?

* what I prefer to call the suite of features commonly referred to as "AutoPilot".

 

[NOLA_Mike]

I wonder if the first death while cruise control was engaged (back in the day) received this much media attention and idle speculation?

No but the internet didn't exist then either.

I do remember when air bags were just being introduced and hearing about deaths caused by air bags though. Air bags improved over time and saved more lives than they harmed.

 

[zambono]

I was crash-impact-WOWed today...........while at a major intersection, I gave a few bucks to a homeless man. He soft saluted and asked if I was driving a Tesla. After nodding my head, he asked if it was the same car that had its roof ripped off. After nodding again and wondering where was this going, he said 'I think these streets would be safer if there were more of these cars.' I asked why and he replied 'because man is arrogant and machines are not. When I was in Nam, arrogant men lost lives trying to outsmart machines. And even when machines failed us, they still saved us many times more.' I asked how he knew of it and he pointed to newspapers underneath his backpack and walked away back over to his post. God, I hated to drive away.

Wondering what type of crash discussions or perspectives others are encountering. Thought provoking, judgmental, techincal or otherwise.

I know this is not the point but damn this country has too many veterans in the streets.

 

[NikeWings]

I know this is not the point but damn this country has too many veterans in the streets.

Yes, it was a poignant reminder z-bo.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

What I was astonished by was at work way more engineers knew about the Tesla accident than the Jeep accident.

When the Jeep accident killed a fairly well know hollywood actor that played in Star trek. Plus it was clear in that accident that technology had gotten in the way of what should been a very simple task.

 

[msnow]

I had two encounters with "outsiders" over the weekend regarding this. A friend was most concerned about my thoughts on how it would impact TSLA stock (ugh) and a guy at a restaurant parking lot who said smiling "nice Tesla keep your hands on the wheel". Nothing as poignant as @NikeWings but that's all I got.

 

[David29]

Well, our buddy in Florida who got killed was reportedly a former Navy SEAL, and was (overly) accustomed to trusting his life to technology. We have to remember that the MS is a consumer product, not an F-35 with $50 million of systems in every car.

Still, considering how poor the average driver is, Autopilot (and similar systems) is/are surely good enough to reduce the overall fatality rate on our nation's roads.

Someone claiming to be a close friend of the deceased driver said he was actually a bomb technician, and careful. So I humbly would suggest that we be careful not to characterize the victim without knowing him, or knowing more facts. Speculating on the person's attitudes, habits, or personality is not helpful.

Tesla elaborates on Autopilot’s automatic emergency braking capacity over Mobileye’s system

 

[jelloslug]

Most people that I have talked with recognized that the driver was at fault in the accident.

 

[DrumCoder]

I sadly had the opposite experience last Friday night:

"Every time I see a Tesla on the road, I get nervous. I got my kids in my car. I don't trust your autopilot system to not hit me. I really hope the government steps in and stops you from using it after the news today. No offense."

-From an acquaintance of mine. (I did take offense.)

They weren't really interested in hearing my side of it, and considering how strongly they felt about it and the venue we were at, it just wasn't appropriate for me to try to give the other side of the story.

 

[McHoffa]

Everyone I know knows me for my Tesla obsession that I've had growing for ten years. They don't talk to me about it for the most part, but I've been asked about that accident many times in the past week.

It's amazing what media does, based on their questions about that (and the fires). Mostly it's just an honest ignorance from not being a follower of all things Tesla, but the news has skewed their perception of a couple very minor events. Not that a guy dying is minor, but statistically speaking, shouldn't have even made a blip on the radar.

 

[Gwgan]

A few people have asked me about it and when I explain the details they say something like "oh, I didn't know, I just read the headline" as they appreciate the difference between "self-driving/autopilot " and ABS failure and recognize the familiar consequences of speed and bad driving. Each conversation is one more opportunity to undue the media distortion.

 

[bhzmark]

Most people that I have talked with recognized that the driver was at fault in the accident.

If by driver you mean the truck driver:

The police report, which was made after interviewing witnesses, states:

“V01[truck] proceeded to make a left turn directly in front of V02[Tesla] as it was oncoming.”

The report also stated that the truck driver “Action at Time of Crash” was that he “Failed to Yield Right of Way”

A homicide case was opened.

The Police report is available at: http://documents.latimes.com/tes...

Make sure other people know that:

Police report stated:
1. truck driver made a left turn "directly in front of" the Tesla.
2. Indicated that the truck driver failed to yield right of way.
3. A homicide investigation was opened -- presumably to assess vehicular manslaughter charges against the truck driver who "failed to yield the right of way" when he turned "directly in front of" the Tesla.

none of the media is reporting these basic facts in the police report and it is a shame.

 

[182RG]

I get nervous. I got my kids in my car. I don't trust your autopilot system to not hit me.

I don't trust distracted mommies, with a car full of kids shouting out their Chick-Fil-A orders. Autopilot, I'll take my chances.

Same for texting teens...and adults.

 

[jelloslug]

If by driver you mean the truck driver:

The police report, which was made after interviewing witnesses, states:

“V01[truck] proceeded to make a left turn directly in front of V02[Tesla] as it was oncoming.”

The report also stated that the truck driver “Action at Time of Crash” was that he “Failed to Yield Right of Way”

A homicide case was opened.

The Police report is available at: http://documents.latimes.com/tes...

Make sure other people know that:

Police report stated:
1. truck driver made a left turn "directly in front of" the Tesla.
2. Indicated that the truck driver failed to yield right of way.
3. A homicide investigation was opened -- presumably to assess vehicular manslaughter charges against the truck driver who "failed to yield the right of way" when he turned "directly in front of" the Tesla.

none of the media is reporting these basic facts in the police report and it is a shame.

I agree that the truck seems to have turned in front of the Tesla but the Tesla driver could not have been paying attention to the events happening in front of him. If the truck had just pulled out as the Tesla approached the intersection he would have hit the truck, not the trailer.

 

[nexsuperne101]

If by driver you mean the truck driver:

The police report, which was made after interviewing witnesses, states:

“V01[truck] proceeded to make a left turn directly in front of V02[Tesla] as it was oncoming.”

The report also stated that the truck driver “Action at Time of Crash” was that he “Failed to Yield Right of Way”

A homicide case was opened.

The Police report is available at: http://documents.latimes.com/tes...

Make sure other people know that:

Police report stated:
1. truck driver made a left turn "directly in front of" the Tesla.
2. Indicated that the truck driver failed to yield right of way.
3. A homicide investigation was opened -- presumably to assess vehicular manslaughter charges against the truck driver who "failed to yield the right of way" when he turned "directly in front of" the Tesla.

none of the media is reporting these basic facts in the police report and it is a shame.

From a hardware point of view, can the ultrasonics/radar on the Tesla "see" an object that is higher than the steering wheel? I would be surprised if it can, especially as the sensors are all quite low (bumper etc).
I doubt this could have occurred in the UK, as all of our trucks have heavy metal beams to stop smaller vehicles going under them. Also, the radar would have had a target to bounce a signal off and realise something was there.
Tesla is getting slammed for this, BUT, it wasn't the Tesla drivers fault. He was cut up by someone that either didn't see him, or didn't bother to gauge the cars speed of approach properly.