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Model X Crash on US-101 (Mountain View, CA)
- Thread starter mookhead
- Start date
Even in old Streetview pic it looks like someone was confused about that not being a lane:
Let's hope this wasn't a new autopilot mistake.
Let's hope this wasn't a new autopilot mistake.
Or they waited until the last minute to change lanes so they can get ahead of a slower moving vehicle in the right lane. I see this happen often at that part of the freeway.
The only pic I could find of the actual fire - it was a thumbnail on a CBSLocal article:
The inevitable next question is: if AP was active, did the driver pay attention to the road ? .. apparently NOT.
I doubt it.
If you back up a few hundred feet and watch the situation unfold from under the preceding overpass you can see that car is happily bumbling along in the exit lane and then it makes a last minute "OMG! I wanted to be on 101, not 85!" lane change over the extra lane markings. This was just bad planning, not lane marking confusion.
I had KTVU on listening to news coverage at 3pm (watch it livestreamed on my iPad, free app and quite decent). One of the advantages of watching it on the tablet is grabbing screen shots--great for Falcon 9 launches and following Starman. This was pretty much top of the hour 3pm news that they replayed from their Noon news/video coverage and I snapped a number of screen shots from my iPad of it (don't know about posting here though?? ). Lots of close up shots of the debris and cars that people might find interesting.
Of note, that barrier that was hit head on, wow you see feet and feet of the track it was on so as it collapsed it took much of the impact I'm sure. If not for the battery fire, might not have been as bad of a situation but hard to say at highway speeds (and let's face it even in morning traffic if it's moving no one seems to drive 65).
I'm looking at one overhead shot (probably from Chopper 5) where you see the car from behind and the driver's A-pillar is totally flayed open towards the concrete barrier. Again not sure if that's due to the impact or rescue efforts.
Another shot I have is of the steering wheel with the airbag deployed laying on the street. No signs of fire burn on it.
The gull wing doors on both sides are slightly ajar. I mentioned the silver canister in the foreground on the passenger side roadway before, think it was foam for fire fighting? A spent oxygen tank for medical purposes I'm pretty sure is green.
The Audi looks like it tapped into the rear driver side of the X but not seeing much damage there. The Mazda impacted the X on it's driver's side front bumper and there's damage there and on it's hood. From all reports only the Tesla driver was sent to the hospital.
Another screen shot was of the roof, thinking taken from the driver's side (without windshield now) and shows the charred and flaking glass which would cover the second row seats.
KTVU's news coverage was partially from Chopper 5 (KCBS) and on ground. I looked to see if they had the video posted but they don't.
However if you want to see it for yourself I bet you'll be able to watch it from the app at the top of the 4pm and 5pm news hour. Might also be available to view on their website. They pretty much are a "news only" channel most of the day and night so tend to repeat stories in their entirety. Looks like the 4pm news is more national and not sure if they will repeat it. They also have news at 9pm and 10pm I believe.
Of note, that barrier that was hit head on, wow you see feet and feet of the track it was on so as it collapsed it took much of the impact I'm sure. If not for the battery fire, might not have been as bad of a situation but hard to say at highway speeds (and let's face it even in morning traffic if it's moving no one seems to drive 65).
I'm looking at one overhead shot (probably from Chopper 5) where you see the car from behind and the driver's A-pillar is totally flayed open towards the concrete barrier. Again not sure if that's due to the impact or rescue efforts.
Another shot I have is of the steering wheel with the airbag deployed laying on the street. No signs of fire burn on it.
The gull wing doors on both sides are slightly ajar. I mentioned the silver canister in the foreground on the passenger side roadway before, think it was foam for fire fighting? A spent oxygen tank for medical purposes I'm pretty sure is green.
The Audi looks like it tapped into the rear driver side of the X but not seeing much damage there. The Mazda impacted the X on it's driver's side front bumper and there's damage there and on it's hood. From all reports only the Tesla driver was sent to the hospital.
Another screen shot was of the roof, thinking taken from the driver's side (without windshield now) and shows the charred and flaking glass which would cover the second row seats.
KTVU's news coverage was partially from Chopper 5 (KCBS) and on ground. I looked to see if they had the video posted but they don't.
However if you want to see it for yourself I bet you'll be able to watch it from the app at the top of the 4pm and 5pm news hour. Might also be available to view on their website. They pretty much are a "news only" channel most of the day and night so tend to repeat stories in their entirety. Looks like the 4pm news is more national and not sure if they will repeat it. They also have news at 9pm and 10pm I believe.
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mkspeedr
Member
Really sorry to hear that and it's what I was afraid might have been the result. Condolences to his family. Wow. Depresssing.
Nope. The "black box" will have a minimal picture about speed/input. The pretty 10 seconds movie on the other hand will not be there. It's recorded by autopilot computer and takes 10s of seconds to collect and compress. And once the 12v power goes away (like when your 12v battery is crushed (and HV battery is disconnected from airbag deployment)) - so does the autopilot.
KTVU just did a brief story on the accident with more the focus on the firefighters not wanting to touch the car until Tesla arrived (said they are learning...actually shocked that fire fighters in this area don't go through training classes on this). They showed Tesla engineers taking the batteries and soaking them in some solution in a blue plastic tub. That was interesting. Chances are this is what they will reair at 5pm.
They did mention that the driver had died.
They did mention that the driver had died.
I don't believe that AP would have any kind of confusion in that area. I drive there all the time on my PM commute, but at that time the traffic is usually <35mph in the carpool lanes. The lanes are extremely clearly marked on both sides of that barrier. There are many other areas of the 101 around Palo Alto I wouldn't trust AP with, but this area is one I would have no problem letting AP handle.
If you want to see footage of the handling of the batteries, watch the video labeled "RAW: CHP works with Tesla Engineer". Not sure if it's exactly the same as I saw on KTVU. And at the very beginning of the clip for a few seconds you'll notice how far that barrier collapsed. You can clearly see it the battery label as 100kWh, 400VDC btw in the footage, but you guys already knew that. Does the Model S 100D also have a similar battery arrangement?
Tesla Driver Injured In Fiery Crash On Hwy 101 Dies
So apart from eyewitness accounts from other drivers is that all we'll know about what happened?
Tesla Driver Injured In Fiery Crash On Hwy 101 Dies
So apart from eyewitness accounts from other drivers is that all we'll know about what happened?
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