Model S crashes into gym

[Az_Rael]

There is a video this time

Tesla Model S crashes into a gym, driver claims autonomous acceleration, Tesla says driver’s fault

Looks like classic wrong pedals.

 

[pdxgibby]

It really bothers me that people insist on blaming Tesla instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. The logs don't lie -- and I highly doubt that Tesla would lie. Under subpoena, Tesla would be required to submit the logs. If it was uncovered that they were lying they would have a much larger problem on their hands.

 

[Todd Burch]

Wish people would apply pedal pressure slowly when parking--whether they think it's accelerator or brake. Seems in this case the driver waited to apply the pedals, and when quick brake action was needed, the--uh--wrong brake was applied--uh--rapidly.

 

[mhan00]

That's clearly a case of the driver hitting the wrong pedal. The car accelerates right when you'd expect the driver to be hitting the brake to slow down. This is actually surprisingly common for people to do by accident, especially if they're not familiar with the car. I would guess it is even more common in a Tesla or an i3 or any electric car with one pedal driving since new drivers might forget they're feathering the accelerator to keep it creeping forward and not riding the brake like they would be in an ICE to control the creep.

The only downside is a Tesla has so much power and torque available immediately that you can get incidents like this where the car can just burst forward. I would not want to be in front of a P100D driver who did this in a parking lot. Well, I wouldn't want to be in front of any driver doing this, but especially not a car that goes 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds.

 

[NikeWings]

Who the hell uses AP in a parking lot?
EDIT Well, I re-read again & again, it doesn't say AP just 'autonomous acceleration'. Interesting term.

 

[mhan00]

It really bothers me that people insist on blaming Tesla instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. The logs don't like -- and I highly doubt that Tesla would lie. Under subpoena, Tesla would be required to submit the logs. If it was uncovered that they were lying they would have a much larger problem on their hands.

It's not just Tesla's people blame. People do this in every freaking brand of car out there. Those incidents just don't get any press because they're not Tesla's and ever since the unintended acceleration incidents that Audi and Toyota faced, the press knows that they're almost always the fault of the driver.

 

[kort677]

operator error.

 

[jdw]

That's clearly a case of the driver hitting the wrong pedal. The car accelerates right when you'd expect the driver to be hitting the brake to slow down.

Almost all of these events happen exactly when you'd expect someone to be braking - if one were to ever happen when you wouldn't expect the driver to be braking, you'd likely have a case for blaming the car.

 

[Larry Hutchinson]

This is why I use creep mode.

Although you can always press the wrong pedal.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Foot lifts up on accelerator. Car slows down. But not to a complete stop. Stomp foot down to stop, because your mind and foot are in "I'm slowing down, but not enough" mode. Launch through window.

 

[rog]

Not sure what is more embarrassing - the accident itself, or the fact that the driver tried to blame the car

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Maybe the driver was trying to find the closest parking spot, to the gym!?

 

[ecarfan]

It's not just Tesla's people blame. People do this in every freaking brand of car out there. Those incidents just don't get any press because they're not Tesla's and ever since the unintended acceleration incidents that Audi and Toyota faced, the press knows that they're almost always the fault of the driver.

Exactly. Decades ago Audi almost went under because of a flurry of reports of "unintended acceleration". It was never proven that it was a problem with the cars. I suspect that the more people heard about the Audi "problems" the more seemed to occur because people believed it would happen and then...suddenly...their Audi did it too. But it was the humans screwing up, not the cars.

See Audi 100 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote: "Audi initially responded by suggesting that the drivers of the cars involved in the incidents were at fault, because they had stepped on the accelerator pedal rather than the brake.[30] Subsequently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded that the majority of unintended acceleration cases, including all the ones that prompted the 60 Minutesreport, were caused mainly by factors such as confusion of pedals."

 

[SteveW25561]

This has been posted in other threads but the podcast by Malcolm Gladwell called Revionist History has an interesting review on the unintended acceleration scandal that hit Toyota resulting in 1 million cars recalled and a $1 billion dollar fine. It discusses how these are always user error issues.

Worth a listen especially as many of us are part of the Tesla autopilot story, and the issue of fault will inevitably come up.

Revisionist History: Blame Game
Blame Game — Revisionist History — Overcast

 

[FlatSix911]

There is a video this time
Tesla Model S crashes into a gym, driver claims autonomous acceleration, Tesla says driver’s fault
Looks like classic wrong pedals.

 

[LastGas]

So exactly what was the purpose of the driver's husband publishing this video, when the cause of the acceleration wasn't known with any certainty? Did he want 1,000 opinions on the Internet based on the biases of the commenters against a few people who know something in general, but nothing specific about this incident? [I read the original Tesla forum post since deleted]

 

[LastGas]

Maybe it was Chinese hackers.

 

[3Victoria]

Could it be that taking pressure off the go-pedal results in the 'feeling of braking' due to regen, and therefore the driver thinks their foot is on the brake-pedal, and not the go-pedal?

 

[Bullet1]

It's not just Tesla's people blame. People do this in every freaking brand of car out there. Those incidents just don't get any press because they're not Tesla's and ever since the unintended acceleration incidents that Audi and Toyota faced, the press knows that they're almost always the fault of the driver.

Happens all the time!

This was my office a bit over a week ago. Lucky wasn't sitting at the desk when random car plowed inside (Guy inside had a stroke? and planted the accelerator). Amazing as had to negotiate trees, steps and other obstacles before making it to our wall!

Wouldn't emergency braking kick in a little in the above situation regardless of using AP or not? It looks like classic max acceleration by missing the brake and planting the accelerator.

 

[DÆrik]

I think we all know the real cause, that she accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake. Especially since the logs confirm that. The article states that this happens ~16,000 times per year in the USA. Just Teslas accelerate so fast. I agree with @Larry Hutchinson. I use creep for these kinds if situations.

I think the biggest question is, did she still go to the gym afterwards? Or is this kind of situation where you say screw it and go get fast food and a shake instead?

Thanks Erik