Both 2 people on car survived. It was late at night, Autopilot did not detect a wood stake on the road, hit more than 20 wood stakes, tire on front passenger side and lights flyed away. The speed limit is 55, he was driving 60 on autopilot. His car is completely destroyed. The place he had accident does not have cellphone signal, it is 100 miles from the hotel. We are on a 50 people Wechat messenger group. I woke up today saw he managed to get internet to ask people in the Wechat group to call tesla for assistant.
Where did this happen? What do you mean by a wood stake on the road? Was this debris on the road? Autopilot is not designed to detect debris on the roadway.
Yikes. Yeah, if there is debris the road you immediately have to take over. It won't stop or avoid most debris or massive potholes. I don't know about the fine in that state, but I know my state has some major fines for leaving debris on the road. Like having an unsecured load. Unsecured loads cause a lot of tragic accidents every year and I'm glad your friends survived.
I'm it happen yesterday around 2am. Address is in one of the photo. I'm also not quite sure about what wood stake is. He said he has a video but wasn't able to upload to the the chat group we are in. The said part of the wood stake was buried deep in the group got hit a way. I do not have any more information. It's all I know ATM
This seems to be the address. I'm not seeing any wooden stakes on the side of the road itself, although there are some stakes as part of the wooden fencing around the fields a ways off from the road. Google Maps
I don't see any wood stakes either and that fence is so far off road you would have to be intentionally 4 wheeling. Sorry the AP part of your friends story is suspect. Glad they are ok though.
I hope we can get some daytime pictures of the crash site so that we can understand what happened. There is Google Streetview of the given address, but it doesn't look like there is anything to crash into on the side of the road. Also, it is not a divided highway, so it is not a good idea to use Autopilot. Glad there are no injuries. Was the crash reported to Montana State Troopers?
Yeah there really isn't anything in the google street view on the edge of the road that would do that kind of damage. Although the street view could be out of date. Either way, I'd be interested in more details.
It would be a nice change of pace if your friend actually got on this forum. Because it would be nice to ask someone directly who was involved with a crash with AP on. To see exactly what happened versus rumors and speculations. It's not a type of road I would use AP on at 2am in the morning. Just too many things that can happen, and it's too uncontrolled of an area. From stuff that could be on the road to wild life crossing, and not to mention it's a single lane road with no divider. There isn't a whole lot of margin for error.
Glad your friend and the passenger are OK. As far as AP involvement, I think the Tesla manual specifically states that AP may not detect all stationary objects - and I've seen similar disclaimers in Mercedes Benz manuals, so it seems to be a general limit of current generation drive assistance.
I'm also curious about how he ended up on this road. Was it a short cut? Or was he trying to be abducted by aliens? The only way I could see it happening was the AP didn't handle the corner correctly even though it's a really long corner, and the car went off the side of the road hitting the posts between it and the side road. Unfortunate, but there are definite limits to what a lane steering system can do. There also won't be much in terms of fleet learning when traveling in really sparse areas.
Glad that everyone got out safe and that may actually be due to the safety features of his car. In the user manual it clearly states that it will not detect stationary objects when driving over 50mph. So you have to be alert. I was in a similar situation with a stalled car with no lights in the fast lane of a major highway and it was past midnight. Fortunately I saw the car in time to swerve to the next lane and avoid a collision. But I still get a shiver down my spine thinking of that night. I don't know what Tesla can do to make drivers understand the limitations and be more responsible in using these developing technologies but definitely these kind of irresponsible driving accidents cause the regulators and Tesla lawyers to go into a frenzy and put controls that take us further away from achieving autonomous driving.
Look at their photo of the location shown on the iPhone at 3:43 AM. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/attachments/image-png.184797/ It's here: 1166 MT-55, Whitehall, MT 59759 at the Whitehall Truck & Trailer Satellite view: Google Maps However, if you look at the Google Maps a bit further east before the railroad crossing, you will notice some guardrails with vertical wood posts next to the road at Big Pipestone Creek. That is a possible location since it is the only obstruction very close to highway 55. Here is the roadside view: Google Maps The paint lines are almost gone next to the creek and unfortunately it is a two lane road, not for use with AP. As mentioned earlier, there are fence posts further off the road closer to the exact stated location, so if the vehicle left the road, then hitting fence posts could occur.
I can definitely see AP not seeing the lines there, but that's in a 45mph zone. I don't see any 55mph zone like reported by the OP. It's either 60mph, 45mph, or 35mph.
Also, if they were driving on an undivided highway AND if autosteer was engaged it will limit them to no more than 5mph over the posted limit. But in any case, if it's a sharp curve or if lane markings were not clear, AP would not be able to steer.
AP DOES NOT DETECT SMALL OBJECTS ON THE ROADWAY. Tesla says not to use AP on roads with cross traffic. The road in question is two lanes, with cross traffic. Read the owner's manual before using AP. Yet another sensationalist thread assuming that AP caused a crash without offering up facts supporting that conclusion. I want facts, not unsupported speculation presented as fact.
IMHO, They may have had visitors from China using a chinese mapping app. Maybe they had just finished dining at the Chinese Garden at 605 W Legion St. in Whitehall, MT and decide to demonstrate Model X on nearby Highway 55. Just a guess, but it is what crossed my mind as I viewed the iPhone photo and the businesses to the east of the reported fender bender location.