Tesla investor car crash thread

[MP3Mike]

I was just surprised that it would move with no weight in the seat. Seems as if it shouldn't be able to do that. Time delay could be used for transient weight shifts.

Really what difference does it make? If someone is already going to the trouble of clicking the seat belt behind them and hanging a weight on the steering wheel do you somehow think that putting a weight plate on the seat before they sit down would be a step too far and they wouldn't do it?

Shoot Bjorn carries weights around with him so that he can keep the HVAC system running while he camps overnight in the VW ID.3... (Now that is a stupid restriction...)

 

[JRP3]

Set a reasonable weight minimum for an adult. Doesn't have to be perfect to be much better than it is.

 

[ZsoZso]

CR got it to drive with no one in the seat and without putting a weigh in the seat.

CR Engineers Show a Tesla Will Drive With No One in the Driver's Seat

Amid speculation about the cause of a fatal crash in Texas, Consumer Reports put Tesla Autopilot to the test on our track without a driver behind the wheel. Our testing shows that a Tesla will drive with no one in the driver seat.

www.consumerreports.org

OK, this is a fine first step but it is VERY far from sufficient.
Now, I am looking forward with great interest to the CR demonstration how to make Tesla Autopilot accelerate to 90mph within 400ft from start on a residential street with 30mph speed limit.

 

[Artful Dodger]

OK, this is a fine first step but it is VERY far from sufficient.
Now, I am looking forward with great interest to the CR demonstration how to make Tesla Autopilot accelerate to 90mph within 400ft from start on a residential street with 30mph speed limit.

Strawman argument. Autopilot was NOT engaged in this event. We know that with certainly from the vehicle's logs.

 

[Artful Dodger]

Not all auto-journalist's are as irresponsilble as Consumer Reports (CR). Some are even worse:

"Let's see how well the Active Lane Control works on the new Infiniti Q50S" VPmagazin Aug. 2, 2014​

​

Note: start watching at 1:30 to see the idiot jump out of the driver's seat on a public highway, in traffic, at highway speed, all while blurring their face to hide from the camera.​

Infiniti Q50 Active Lane Control - Selfdriving Car (starting from 1m:30s)

This video was posted on Youtube more than 6 years ago, has over 750K views, and NOT ONE jouralist has complained about journalists doing this before (is it because Infinity Motor Co. pays for Ads?). It is simply irresponsible to post stunts like this which prioritize views over public safety.

The CR autopilot safety defeat video demonstrates and incites illegal behavior from thrill-seekers, all the while paying lipservice to safety. So much wrong. Reprehensible conduct, and should be taken down by Youtube. Shame on CR.

Double-shame for failing to even acknowledge that Autopilot was in no way responsible for even engaged in the accident in Woodlands, TX.

Facts don't matter when you've got a narrative to sell. Who's paying, CR?

 

[JRP3]

Strawman argument. Autopilot was NOT engaged in this event. We know that with certainly from the vehicle's logs.

On the other hand if they can't fool the car into accelerating hard in a short distance that further takes away the narrative being pushed.

 

[Artful Dodger]

On the other hand if they can't fool the car into accelerating hard in a short distance that further takes away the narrative being pushed.

I hear you, but IMO that is fighting the wrong battle, and on their turf. Better to call them out for creating a strawman argument, ignoring the actual facts of this case, and their unethical tactics with repect to the release of video.

Who do you think will publish the first story when some foolish, duped rube posts a youtube video like the Infinite Q50S stunt from 6 years ago? The CR video demonstrates illegal activity which could result in injury or death, and is highly questionable in content: (CR could just say it's possible without publishing a "How-to" demonstration of breaking the law)

YouTube's Community Guidelines:

"...content encouraging others to commit violent acts is not allowed on YouTube"​

CR simply is engaging in yellow journalism, and the 1st Ammendment doesn't protect them when inciting illegal behaviour (Speech integral to illegal conduct, or Speech that incites imminent lawless action).

If this happens, and involved injury or death, the Justice Department should have a long, long look at CR. Crass but true, this is the same reason why you can't publish videos encouraging or inciting suicide.

 

[Nocturnal]

FYI. I was talking to one of my good friends today and the whole TX crash came up. Turns out his buddy lives on that street. The word is that they crashed, couldn't get out because they were wedged between trees and then died. The guy there says he thinks they were just hauling arse and were drunk or high or something. <- This part of my post is not a joke. The rest is. ->

Also, I was inspired by consumer reports and did my own test. I think it turned out pretty well. Video has NSFW language and actions.

 

[StealthP3D]

FYI. I was talking to one of my good friends today and the whole TX crash came up. Turns out his buddy lives on that street. The word is that they crashed, couldn't get out because they were wedged between trees and then died. The guy there says he thinks they were just hauling arse and were drunk or high or something. <- This part of my post is not a joke. The rest is. ->

Yeah, I had already come to that conclusion in the Texas crash thread based on the images in the news video. Pretty obvious. Little saplings all around (except the burnt out circle), a big scrape running down the trunk of the tree from above 8 feet off the ground. The nose of the car launched upwards from running over a thicket of smaller saplings and hit the large tree belly first where it got hung up in the saplings until the fire heated them up so the car was released back to the ground, scraping the bark in the process. The driver ended up in the back seat when the car was pointed vertical. Probably climbed in the back trying to escape out a back door. But all doors blocked by saplings under tension. Very unfortunate but avoidable accident.

 

[FireMedic]

Yeah, I had already come to that conclusion in the Texas crash thread based on the images in the news video. Pretty obvious. Little saplings all around (except the burnt out circle), a big scrape running down the trunk of the tree from above 8 feet off the ground. The nose of the car launched upwards from running over a thicket of smaller saplings and hit the large tree belly first where it got hung up in the saplings until the fire heated them up so the car was released back to the ground, scraping the bark in the process. The driver ended up in the back seat when the car was pointed vertical. Probably climbed in the back trying to escape out a back door. But all doors blocked by saplings under tension. Very unfortunate but avoidable accident.

I had concluded it was colonel mustard in the library with a candlestick

 

[Artful Dodger]

Good takedown of Media FUD and misconduct published today by Cleantechnica.com journalist Johnna Crider

"I don’t mean all media here. I mean those who push out articles and headlines blaming Tesla without any type of evidence. Elon Musk has already said that Autopilot was not engaged and that the owner of that vehicle didn’t purchase FSD. The police and federal agencies are investigating the crash, but instead of waiting on data or assuming something happened that happens every day (many times a day), many media outlets are publishing hit pieces on Tesla blaming Autopilot and Tesla’s goal of creating robotaxis — which everyone knows, especially Tesla owners, are not here yet."​

Instead Of Blaming Tesla For Accidents That Involved Reckless Driving, We Need To Hold Drivers Accountable

 

[Artful Dodger]

Does the driver side airbag get disabled when no one is detected in the seat? I know this is common for the passenger seat to avoid injury to young kids. But it doesn't make sense to have a kid in the driver's seat. So why would they disable it? Maybe just to save the cost of an unnecessary deployment?

Elon addressed airbag deployment software in his latest appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience #1609. During the podcast, Elon said that Tesla not only measures the weight of the person in each seat, but they also know which part of the seat they are sitting on. The airbag deployment is software controlled to match the individual occupant. Tesla goes WAY BEYOND regulatory requirements for safety in this respect, and indeed in every aspect of their car design.

 

[Artful Dodger]

SMR is majorly pissed at CR over their latest unethical, irresponsible, and dangerous actions. Here's his detailed takedown of the CR video:

Shameless Consumer Reports SCREWS Tesla - YouTube

 

[Curt Renz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1386291470840340486

 

[JRP3]

From the conference call:
"Steering wheel in the crash was deformed" suggesting that someone was in the drivers seat. No seat belts were buckled, suggesting to me that the occupants unbuckled them after the crash

 

[ZsoZso]

Elon also mentioned on the call (if I understood correctly, audio wasn't great), that while autosteer did not engage as it could not on that street, TACC did but was limited to 30mph ?

So maybe the driver thought he engaged AP while in fact it was only TACC which may have led to the crash (nobody steered to keep the car on the road during the curve) ?

 

[JRP3]

That crash must have been at much higher speed than 30mph to cause that much damage.

 

[lafrisbee]

The only issue I see with that is that if they were unbelted that implies they then tried to escape and ended up where they ended up. If the driver impacted the wheel would he have the ability to move to another spot in the car.

At the risk of getting another personalized disparaging message on why my post was deleted....
I think I heard that both occupants' seatbelts were unbuckled." Which clarifies very little. However they did say that the driver's seatbelt was unbuckled after the crash (and the steering wheel was deformed) which supports the car was driven by a human. The "High speed" was debunked. However at 30 mph with good airbags does the steering wheel deform, and does heat from the fire also cause deformity of the steering wheel?
So now knowing the car was driving at only 30mph???????????????
I am more unsure of what happened than before because with both occupants not wearing seatbelts the front passenger could have been driving, and then unfastened his seatbelt after the wreck, and climbed to a position in the front seat in an attempt to help the backseat passenger.
Now was the back seat passenger wearing his seatbelt till after impact...? was the driver's door opened after the accident?
The black eye for tesla is looming large...
A 30 mph collision results in the death of both occupants? Why? from the battery fire?
I was confident that the full blame was the driver's. not now.

 

[MP3Mike]

However at 30 mph with good airbags does the steering wheel deform, and does heat from the fire also cause deformity of the steering wheel?
So now knowing the car was driving at only 30mph???????????????

It wasn't a 30 MPH crash. They said that if TACC was used it would have only accelerated to 30 MPH in the distance travelled. So being the crash was a higher speed than that proved that it wasn't TACC/AS/AP driving.

 

[MP3Mike]

Elon also mentioned on the call (if I understood correctly, audio wasn't great), that while autosteer did not engage as it could not on that street, TACC did but was limited to 30mph ?

No, they said that when testing if TACC was engaged it would have only accelerated to 30 MPH in the distance travelled. (Proving that TACC wasn't what was driving the car before the collision.)