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Fatal autopilot crash, NHTSA investigating...

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I know why the ultrasonics didn't see anything and thats because of the height of the trailer
That is probably not the explanation. The ultrasonics can only detect objects out to 16 ft away, and their relatively slow latency means that at highway speeds the AEB cannot come on in time to prevent a collision. It might have been activated, but too late to prevent the crash.

There are a number of reasons why the Tesla driver might have failed to notice the truck in time to prevent a collision. I do not think that the AP being activated is the reason for the crash.

@MorrisonHiker posted upthread, quote: "The FHP said the tractor-trailer was traveling west on US 27A in the left turn lane toward 140th Court. Brown’s car was headed east in the outside lane of U.S. 27A.
When the truck made a left turn onto NE 140th Court in front of the car, the car’s roof struck the underside of the trailer as it passed under the trailer. The car continued to travel east on U.S. 27A until it left the roadway on the south shoulder and struck a fence."

That description makes it sound like the truck driver did not see the oncoming Tesla and turned directly in front of it. We do not know if the Tesla driver attempted to brake or if by the time he saw the truck he did not have time to apply the brakes or if he never saw the truck at all. The car's logs will show if the brakes were applied by the driver or the AEB before impact.

Whatever the reason for the crash, all Tesla AP owners should know that they have to remain alert and aware at all times while using AP. Using AP on a road with cross traffic, even a divided road, has always seemed risky to me.
 
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I do not think that the AP being activated is the reason for the crash.

If AP lulls drivers into a false sense of security, then it absolutely could be the reason for the crash. In my limited time with the car, I know personally that I tend to pay slightly less attention than if I had to fully operate the car. It's not that I DON'T pay attention, just that I'm not as vigilant as if I had to step on the gas pedal and control the direction of the car or risk driving off the road.
 
This is heartbreaking. There was a story published a few weeks before he died that described how AutoPilot SAVED Mr. Brown from a crash. Some of you may remember seeing the dashcam video. "When Ohioan Joshua Brown took his Tesla Model S for a spin earlier this month, he got familiar fast with how handy the autopilot system could be — as it took over and avoided a crash."


Tesla Model S autopilot takes over and saves driver from collision
 
This is heartbreaking. There was a story published a few weeks before he died that described how AutoPilot SAVED Mr. Brown from a crash. Some of you may remember seeing the dashcam video. "When Ohioan Joshua Brown took his Tesla Model S for a spin earlier this month, he got familiar fast with how handy the autopilot system could be — as it took over and avoided a crash."


Tesla Model S autopilot takes over and saves driver from collision
Good catch. I can't believe this was the same driver?? What a coincidence.
 
This is heartbreaking. There was a story published a few weeks before he died that described how AutoPilot SAVED Mr. Brown from a crash. Some of you may remember seeing the dashcam video. "When Ohioan Joshua Brown took his Tesla Model S for a spin earlier this month, he got familiar fast with how handy the autopilot system could be — as it took over and avoided a crash."


Tesla Model S autopilot takes over and saves driver from collision

Elon even Tweeted the video:

Elon Musk on Twitter
 
If AP lulls drivers into a false sense of security, then it absolutely could be the reason for the crash. In my limited time with the car, I know personally that I tend to pay slightly less attention than if I had to fully operate the car. It's not that I DON'T pay attention, just that I'm not as vigilant as if I had to step on the gas pedal and control the direction of the car or risk driving off the road.

I agree that's possible, even plausible. However, we don't have all the details. Looking at that highway satellite view, it's entirely possible the truck quickly entered the roadway in a perceived gap (which didn't exist) and the Tesla driver had less than 2-3 seconds to react.
 
This is heartbreaking. There was a story published a few weeks before he died that described how AutoPilot SAVED Mr. Brown from a crash. Some of you may remember seeing the dashcam video. "When Ohioan Joshua Brown took his Tesla Model S for a spin earlier this month, he got familiar fast with how handy the autopilot system could be — as it took over and avoided a crash."


Tesla Model S autopilot takes over and saves driver from collision

Is he is the same person than there are good chances that there's video of the accident.
 
This is heartbreaking. There was a story published a few weeks before he died that described how AutoPilot SAVED Mr. Brown from a crash. Some of you may remember seeing the dashcam video. "When Ohioan Joshua Brown took his Tesla Model S for a spin earlier this month, he got familiar fast with how handy the autopilot system could be — as it took over and avoided a crash."


Tesla Model S autopilot takes over and saves driver from collision

Then, there is a high chance, that a dashcam video exists of this accident for Tesla an NHTSA to investigate.
 
"Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied."

[twitter] Artem Zinnatulλin: oh… but why didn't radar system detect the obstacle and apply breaks or change trajectory?

[twitter] Musk :"Radar tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events"

Why this sound like ED 209 and “He didn't hear it.”...
 
The important question here, which can never be answered properly, is: Did the use of AP in this instance make the driver less attentive than he would otherwise have been thus facilitating the accident, or in other words would the Tesla driver have crashed in to/under the semi had he not been using AP assistance?

The same argument can be made for fatalities while texting against phone companies or manufacturers, so not sure it would fly.
 
It should be highlighted as well, however, that the fatality resulted from a tractor trailer crossing a divided highway and ramming into the Model S.
Sounds like a T Bone collision. Good luck on trying to prevent that. Most of the time you cannot even see these vehicles coming at you from the sides and you might also expect that they would be braking. I am also not certain the AP currently looks that far out right or left.

Once we had an accident like this in our rural area in heavy fog. A flatbed semi got disoriented and stopped straddling another highway at an intersection. An oncoming driver, who was very alert, backed off the accelerator approaching what they knew to be a blind intersection. Then the flatbed came into sight. The driver immediately locked the brakes but skidded under the trailer and took off the top of the car. They had the foresight to duck when they knew they were not going to stop in time. They came out of it with minor injuries and a new convertible car.
 
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So sad. My condolences to his family and loved ones.

I have difficulty with this part of Tesla's press release:

"Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied."


The problems I have with this statement are:

(1) Tesla's autopilot is not affected by colours or bright lights, as far as I am aware. Tesla's system simply does not have the hardware to address this type of situation regardless of colours or lighting.

(2) We don't know why the driver didn't react but I don't believe that it was due to the colour of the trailer and/or the brightly lit sky. I've driven a lot of highway miles beside semi-trailers and regardless of colour or the sun in your eyes, you know when one is beside you or moving into your lane.

I only had an autopilot loaner for less than a week of highway driving but I can see how this can possibly happen by people becoming complacent and too reliant on the system. But I don't know if that happened here. No one knows and the last thing I want to do is blame the driver. Of course, the truck driver is at fault but at the same I time I wonder if he would still be alive if he had a non-AP car. Then again, AP has probably saved lives that we will never know about -- tired drivers, lane keeping, and even in the video posted by this driver of his close call that AP avoided.
 
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"Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied."

[twitter] Artem Zinnatulλin: oh… but why didn't radar system detect the obstacle and apply breaks or change trajectory?

[twitter] Musk :"Radar tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events"

Why this sound like ED 209 and “He didn't hear it.”...
I suspect this is already being worked on.
 
As a general aviation pilot, I use an autopilot when things get real busy in a cockpit or to look up charts when there is a route change etc. This is likely to happen in single pilot instrument flying conditions. It does imply then that you are not paying 100% attention to flying the plane but monitoring the instruments less frequently trusting that the AP is doing its job maintaining heading and altitude. For the car driver, this would be a similar scenario where ones attention drifts to other things besides watching the road carefully with potentially dangerous consequences. The chances of running into something in the air is much less and there are other collision warning devices in aircraft. For cars, there is less reaction time for sure.