Is Autopilot at fault in this accident?

[Watts_Up]

Is Autopilot at fault in this accident?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Maybe / Partially
4. Tesla driver, because driver is in control

5. The truck driver is at fault, because he changed lane in an unsafe manner and created this accident.

If you look at the vide at 0:30 you can see that there was no other cars following the Tesla ,
and the semi could have merged then very safely thereafter instead of forcing his way.

Note: I can tell you than every time I need to merge into, or exit, a Carpool lane, I felt very unsecure to do so.
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[68882]

May I ask what you would program AP to do in such situations? (if you were a programmer)

As a software engineer I can’t answer that since the future system is not rule based rather a AI or ML system where no one quite knows how it will behave. The intent of course is to have it behave ‘way better’ than an average driver.

However this evening autosteer showed me that if the left paint line of the bike lane is missing due to newly done paving it’s choice is to veer right to center the vehicle between the road center line and the right edge of the bike lane. Well which is wrong as you drift over to the left edge of the bike lane.

 

[68882]

hmm really? So any time a car/truck wants to change lanes you are obliged to get out of the way to let him in? And if you dont and there is an accident it's your fault? Seems a bit odd to me.

In Silicon Valley a few years back google had a problem with their self driving cars because people realized they would always yield, which led to the issue the cars couldn’t make a left turn because no one would allow it. To solve this they had to add more aggression.

If someone wants to merge then you can decide if will allow it tempered with deciding if the other driver is cautious or not. You want to avoid bending metal but the other driver might not care or be an idiot.

 

[Dan D.]

In Silicon Valley a few years back google had a problem with their self driving cars because people realized they would always yield, which led to the issue the cars couldn’t make a left turn because no one would allow it. To solve this they had to add more aggression.

If someone wants to merge then you can decide if will allow it tempered with deciding if the other driver is cautious or not. You want to avoid bending metal but the other driver might not care or be an idiot.

The truck had his signal on while the car was approaching. There was enough time for the driver/car to recognize what the truck driver was about to do. There was enough space for the truck to merge. The truck slowed (which was a poor decision), and committed to the merge (an aggressive decision).

It was a reasonably slow merge, there was time to react. I would say that once the vehicle has clearly crossed the white line (0:25) you could see that collision was impending and inevitable. Slam on the brakes. Anything else at that point is foolish. Caution, aggression, whatever, there is no reaction other than avoidance at that point. An attentive driver could have predicted the truck's move, AP (which should always be attentive) could have at least reacted to the merge event.

Despite who is at fault for the impending collision (truck), the car had the opportunity to react and avoid the actual impact. That part is 50% on the car. If a bull is charging and you hold your ground you have to take some of the blame for what happens.

 

[P3dStealth]

In my experience trucks merge like this all the time. Typically the car driver reacts. This could have been avoided but nobody reacted. Who is at fault? Everyone. You have to consider that a person should have some responsibility to drive defensively in situations. You don't always have to drive into someone if they make a bad decision.

Insurance wise obviously the truck pays but I would have just hit the brake. Autopilot failed pretty bad.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Is nobody else surprised at

1. Driver being stuck in the car?
2. Driver needing to be taken away by ambulance?

I mean, the video doesn't tell everything. Maybe they hit their head? But I'm just surprised at the above watching the video.

Oh, and totally the truck's fault. If I had been driving, there's a better than likely chance I wouldn't have let the truck in. I probably would have had my guard up and had been ready to react if he tried this stunt, though.

 

[HighZ]

I see trucks on the freeways around Chicago do this all the time. They are very aggressive as they don't want to slow down.

When this happens, the driver either tries to close the gap more or will slow and let the driver in. The AP doesn't seem to have that kind of intelligence yet to try to anticipate it, and once it starts, it doesn't take the action of either moving to the left or rapidly slowing.

This, however, made me think of the AP spacing that was set. On the freeways, I typically have to keep it at 1 which is maybe what was set here. it will provide a gap, but not much of one. I wonder if in the future, AP might take control of the gap and when there is more traffic, increase the space between cars. It will mean that more people will merge in front, but it will also provide more room to maneuver and take action. If the gap had been a 3 or 4, the truck would have had plenty of room and the car would have been able to react.

 

[P3dStealth]

Is nobody else surprised at

1. Driver being stuck in the car?
2. Driver needing to be taken away by ambulance?

I mean, the video doesn't tell everything. Maybe they hit their head? But I'm just surprised at the above watching the video.

Oh, and totally the truck's fault. If I had been driving, there's a better than likely chance I wouldn't have let the truck in. I probably would have had my guard up and had been ready to react if he tried this stunt, though.

Yea it didn't seem like much of a force. The driver prob just wants to sue someone. I bet he couldn't open the door because he didn't know about the emergency release.

 

[erniejenson]

Arguing all this fault business is such a waste of time. Down here in So Cal, we want to stay alive and enjoy life. Every day I travel the most crowded freeways in the world. I watch semi drivers time and time again trying to move over lanes on our complicated roads when drivers don't want to give them space to move in when they put their blinker lights on. Who wants to follow a semi? They speed up and have no where to go and just hang the semi driver out to dry. I anticpate what the simi driver is up against and seed up if there is clearly space ahead or drop back quickly. In an instant my brain knows what to do, I don't have to think about it. I have put millions of miles on driving these freeways and have never put a scratch on a car. When slowing up quickly I am watching what the car behind me is able to do and brake accordingly. In So Cal he is most likely following closely as that is how our traffic works, bumper to bumper at eighty miles per hour.

 

[MikeHolliday]

Yea it didn't seem like much of a force. The driver prob just wants to sue someone. I bet he couldn't open the door because he didn't know about the emergency release.

The Doors on all Tesla vehicles open after an accident when the car has come to a rest.