T-Mom
Banned
you mean at ANY age. My 75 year old dad could do it if anyone can.
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[UPDATED] 2 die in Tesla crash - NHTSA reports driver seat occupied
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Tam
Well-Known Member
The car logs should have the speed. The speed is now being guessed. I think 40MPH should be good enough to burn up a tree. This Model S with a red brake has much more acceleration capability than a Model 3.
I agree that there's a possible manual acceleration as well. The log should be able to tell whether the machine did it or humans did.
Does AP act exactly the same on all Tesla models on all years and all various hardware versions and firmware versions?
When the MS Performance hit the curb, assuming with some uplift and force coming down on the grassy area, would the traction controls have sped up the car in effect and launched it forward with more energy at that point? Not much more distance to cover to the treeline at that point. We did see recent tire tracks in the grass but wondered if those might have been from the flat bed tow truck trying to leave the grassy area with the extra weight on it. The photo had to have been taken after the accident scene was cleared. At least I don’t remember seeing the burnt out MS in the photo along with the tracks (not handy time to check back right now).
ev_go123
Member
Agree.
I doubt the model would effect how fast AP or TACC accelerates. I would imagine it's a software setting constant to all cars. That being said, it would be interesting for someone with a model S performanceto test anyway.
Regarding if 40 mph is enough speed for that destructive of a crash. I guess none of us would really know, but I would think it's very improbable.
ev_go123
Member
Doubt the lifting effect would have accelerated the car. If anything, traction control might have limited the power after detection wheel slip.
There is video of them towing the car out, it's in a different location than the tire tracks.
You can see the firefighters have followed the Tesla guide, or their own SOP on cutting locations. Pink areas are to be avoided as they have hazards; they have left those intact at the front, middle, top, and rear. The green area is high-strength steel and they have left it in place also.
I think the question to be answered is "How did the driver (Dr. Varner) wind up in the back seat?"
I haven't read a single theory where the car could get up to speed unattended in so short a distance, so close to the Dr.'s home. Nor an explanation for why, if he was going to give a demo of AP, he wouldn't have waited until he got to the end of his street where the cross-road is properly marked. The guy is an anethesiologist, for cryin' out loud, so he was probably smart enough to give a demo of AP on a road where it would work, not where it was certain to fail.
I'm going with the simply theory that this was a 0-60 demo gone wrong, probably after a few drinks (boomers don't stay up til 11:30 pm unless there's a party) and the Doc crawled into the back seat to perhaps escape.
I haven't read a single theory where the car could get up to speed unattended in so short a distance, so close to the Dr.'s home. Nor an explanation for why, if he was going to give a demo of AP, he wouldn't have waited until he got to the end of his street where the cross-road is properly marked. The guy is an anethesiologist, for cryin' out loud, so he was probably smart enough to give a demo of AP on a road where it would work, not where it was certain to fail.
I'm going with the simply theory that this was a 0-60 demo gone wrong, probably after a few drinks (boomers don't stay up til 11:30 pm unless there's a party) and the Doc crawled into the back seat to perhaps escape.
The Woodlands Fire Department guys were way more knowledgeable on BEVs than the police department based on comments made to the press from both groups, which I guess I would expect. Still hurts to have officials make comments to the press that travel worldwide and spread misinformation.
Just to clarify, It happened around 9pm with call to 911 about a fire in the forest at around 9:20pm. Doubt either person was drunk after a dinner out with their wives. As to how I think the owner/driver in the back seat ended up there, I think he was driving and after the accident was able to crawl to the back seat and for whatever reason was unable to get out. That explanation makes the most sense.
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Silicon Desert
Well-Known Member
EVNow
Well-Known Member
Cruise control activated instead of AP by the unfamiliar Engr, who shifted to the passenger seat before / after accident.
The accident doesn't make sense unless their mental abilities were impaired. May be the doc forgot that AP doesn't work in his street. We have to await autopsy report on what they had consumed before the ride.
Does anyone know when / whether the autopsy report will be released ?
Needsdecaf
Active Member
It makes even less sense when you realize that the road at the end of his street isn't marked. I haven't driven through Carlton Woods in a while but unless I'm mistaken (and Google Earth Pro seems to back me up) none of the roads within this development are marked except for stop bars and the occasional set of gores around an island. This would be consistent with the rest of the construction of this section of the Woodlands.
I believe the nearest marked street is Creekside Forest. So he's quite a few turns away from being on a street where AP would work.
Typical street construction for the area:
I really wish those that keep pushing the angle that this was somehow related to AP / TACC (here and in the media) would just let that go. There are so many factors pointing against that. Can we just accept that this is a horrible circumstance that has almost certainly nothing to do with automated driving systems? And that someone's husband's (and probably fathers) are now dead?
Tam
Well-Known Member
It's up to NTSB to allow which info to be public during the investigation. But sure, toxicology is quite standard in its report. It might give out some info to the public in between while waiting for the final report which is an average of about 2 years.
NHTSA/NTSB reports will usually say Fatalities: 2, and list the presence/absence of any relevant toxicology, and their reports will take some time. It's up to the coroner/officials to determine if any other information is relevant to the public. Not to say there can't be leaks, but I doubt they would want to release an autopsy report.
While the info in this article clearly was not spell or fact checked, I’m linking to it as it has photos of both men and a re-quote from the passenger’s daughter. The older man was a financial planner and part of a company bearing his last name. The MS owner, a medical director at a local hospital. I’m sure their deaths have impacted so many people in the area in one way or another and people from all over will be interested in the final report from authorities.
texasnewstoday.com
There’s a link at the bottom of page “Source” to the Daily Mail article. Clearly info was scrapped off sites and no one saw discrepancies to check out. So sad how low journalism has fallen in this age of instant news. It’s been days since this happened and still no one is working to get the facts like name and time of accident correct.
Photo: Two men who died in Tesla crashed when "no one was driving" - Texas News Today
Here are the names and photos of two friends who died in a Tesla crash on Saturday night in Texas after a vehicle crashed into a tree and burned “nobody in the driver’s seat.” Everett Talbot, 69, was in the passenger seat of a Model S vehicle. His name was announced by police on Wednesday. …
There’s a link at the bottom of page “Source” to the Daily Mail article. Clearly info was scrapped off sites and no one saw discrepancies to check out. So sad how low journalism has fallen in this age of instant news. It’s been days since this happened and still no one is working to get the facts like name and time of accident correct.
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CyberGus
Not Just a Member
This makes me think of the man that dropped his grand-daughter to her death on a cruise ship, and then blamed the windows.
No one wants to believe that otherwise intelligent, sensible people would make such a fatal mistake. But if I'm being honest about my own experience, I've had many times in my life while doing something ill-advised that if I had been a minute earlier, or two feet to the left, it would have resulted in my demise. My take on this incident is that it's the result of multiple poor choices compounded by a moment of bad luck.
What is absolutely clear to me however, which I feel is not being represented in the press, is that the self-driving features of a Tesla will not wrest the controls away from an attentive driver and intentionally murder them.
No one wants to believe that otherwise intelligent, sensible people would make such a fatal mistake. But if I'm being honest about my own experience, I've had many times in my life while doing something ill-advised that if I had been a minute earlier, or two feet to the left, it would have resulted in my demise. My take on this incident is that it's the result of multiple poor choices compounded by a moment of bad luck.
What is absolutely clear to me however, which I feel is not being represented in the press, is that the self-driving features of a Tesla will not wrest the controls away from an attentive driver and intentionally murder them.
Where are you getting 9pm? I keep seeing they got home after 11 and got in the car at 11:25 PM. Also, why would you doubt either person was drunk? I don't think I have ever gone out to dinner with wife and friends and not get drunk, especially that late...thats what UBER is for.
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