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New fatal crash in Holland

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That is true. If that journalist is wrong....he/she needs to be fined and/or fired.

Even worse, the WSJ just published a BS article, implying this situation is similar to what happened in Florida. Also, the author who wrote the article used a very misleading comment by saying " Tesla declines to say if self-driving system engaged at the time".

Although it's technically true that Tesla did not say if Autopilot was active, this comment is very misleading. Tesla did what any responsible company would do, and stated that "We are undertaking a full investigation and will share our findings as soon as possible". It would be have been irresponsible for Tesla to have said anything before all of the facts are known.

Assuming Autopilot was active before any facts are released is irresponsible and unprofessional.
 
Even worse, the WSJ just published a BS article, implying this situation is similar to what happened in Florida. Also, the author who wrote the article used a very misleading comment by saying " Tesla declines to say if self-driving system engaged at the time".

Although it's technically true that Tesla did not say if Autopilot was active, this comment is very misleading. Tesla did what any responsible company would do, and stated that "We are undertaking a full investigation and will share our findings as soon as possible". It would be have been irresponsible for Tesla to have said anything before all of the facts are known.

Assuming Autopilot was active before any facts are released is irresponsible and unprofessional.
Yeah.... that's terrible.
 
Language barrier.

Unfortunately English is not the only language in the world. Anyway, Daniel is right : the article reports a fire in the cabin that manifested itself spontaneously one hour after the accident. Still, the driver was already passed away by then. If you google the article like this you can read it without registration. The Google translation of that page is, as usual, a bit funky, but should allow native English speakers to understand the gist of the article just fine.
 
Unfortunately English is not the only language in the world. Anyway, Daniel is right : the article reports a fire in the cabin that manifested itself spontaneously one hour after the accident. Still, the driver was already passed away by then. If you google the article like this you can read it without registration. The Google translation of that page is, as usual, a bit funky, but should allow native English speakers to understand the gist of the article just fine.

I suspect that the fire, technically speaking, was not "spontaneous". If part of the battery was ripped out of the car, while another part of the pack was left damaged (structurally and probably with damaged cooling) in the car, and got high resistance short as a result of rupture, this low level fault (short) could lead to the heat build-up and eventual heat run-away, manifesting in the fire after some time.
 
Even worse, the WSJ just published a BS article, implying this situation is similar to what happened in Florida. Also, the author who wrote the article used a very misleading comment by saying " Tesla declines to say if self-driving system engaged at the time".

Although it's technically true that Tesla did not say if Autopilot was active, this comment is very misleading. Tesla did what any responsible company would do, and stated that "We are undertaking a full investigation and will share our findings as soon as possible". It would be have been irresponsible for Tesla to have said anything before all of the facts are known.

Assuming Autopilot was active before any facts are released is irresponsible and unprofessional.

You might want to send e-mail to the author, pointing out the inaccuracies in the article and putting pressure on him to correct them. I just did. His e-mail is [email protected]
 
I doubt the driver fell asleep. The accident was about 450 m west of the intersection of N415 and N221. The car was travelling east on the Hilversumseestraatweg (N415). The Tesla looks to have driven over the 5.0 km marker sign on the N415 before it hit the tree, meaning it had only traveled 5 km from the last urban area, or less if you measure to the last major intersection (3.5 km). The most probable case is the driver was on his way to work in the morning.
 
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A smaller image attached to the link shows what appears to be the steering wheel, having separated from the steering column during the accident. Open in a separte tab, to see.
https://fd.nl/ondernemen/1166498/tesla-start-onderzoek-naar-overleden-bestuurder-baarn

The forces in this accident were severe. Those trees make for an awful way to slow down, but this looks like a lot of speed too.
I wouldn't assume that, it's often the first pieces removed in an extracation.
 
I'll just leave this recent article about a fatal car crash that killed TWO people, that received no media coverage. The article doesn't even say what type of vehicle was being driven. At least the person who wrote this quick snippet of an article had the decency to not print baseless speculation, and to state that the crash remains under investigation.

2, including Hamilton student, killed in crash with tree

Here are a few more horrible crashes that happened recently.

Two dead in Plantation after car smashes into tree

Triple-fatal crash claims lives of woman, daughter, grandaughter

Two dead in Plantation after car smashes into tree

2 killed after SUV crashes into tree

Now we know young LA couple killed in tree crash off 710 - MyNewsLA.com - (This happened two days ago)

Fatal car crash into tree near Hyde Park


Also, the headline of this thread should be changed. It implies there was another identical incident in Holland!

If you do a quick search, you'll find A LOT of fatal car crashes (at least a few every month) where the vehicle being driven crashed into a tree.

None of the articles in the links above include speculation by the journalist writing the story about what might have happened, commentary about the automobile or the automobile manufacturer, or a comparison to other accidents. In most of the articles, the author simply only that an accident happened, where the accident happened, and maybe the type of vehicle involved.


 
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I doubt the driver fell asleep. The accident was about 450 m west of the intersection of N415 and N221. The car was travelling east on the Hilversumseestraatweg (N415). The Tesla looks to have driven over the 5.0 km marker sign on the N415 before it hit the tree, meaning it had only traveled 5 km from the last urban area, or less if you measure to the last major intersection (3.5 km). The most probable case is the driver was on his way to work in the morning.

I found the location on Google Maps. The car would have been headed slightly north of due east. That's the direction in which the Sun would have been rising during early September. If the sky was clear and the Sun had recently risen, the driver or autopilot may have been blinded by sunlight.

If anyone knows the exact time of the accident, I could determine the position of the Sun in the sky. Information about cloud conditions would also be helpful.
 
The first photos of the accident, which include parts of the battery still on fire, show that it was pre-dawn, I think the accident was about 6AM.

Thanks. The Sun would not have risen at that location until 07:03 CEST (UT+2). If 06:00 is near the correct time for the accident, then my speculation about sun blinding can be disregarded.
 
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Human loss.
Loss of a Tesla.

First one is sadly still too common in motor vehicles, but coupled with the next one is why it's headline news around the world.

The shock hazard delay is tragic, if there was any hope of rescue.

But, an analog for a fuel-soaked car might have just meant an immediate fire.

And there's the loss of a Tesla enthusiast, and possible TMC member. My thoughts are out to the family and friends.