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[UPDATED] 2 die in Tesla crash - NHTSA reports driver seat occupied

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The only way this could have been done is via TACC, not by AP. I don't think TACC mandates seatbelt use.

Thinking about how this could be done...

* They get into the car. As no-one is in the driver's seat, the screen switches off
* Passenger wakes the car up by leaning over and pressing the break pedal with their right hand
* Passenger accidentally knocks the gear + AP stalks down while trying to sit upright. They are leaning on the driver's seat so the car goes into D.
* Last-used TACC speed limit is 70++
 
Sad news for sure. This accident brings up a number of inconsistencies on FSD, speed and such.

The report spoke of terrible fire that was hard to put out as evidence in news photo of the Tesla. How does a rear tire survive this? Wonder if there could have been 3 people instead of just 2. No eyewitnesses to crash? It will be interesting what the final report will state.

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The only way this could have been done is via TACC, not by AP. I don't think TACC mandates seatbelt use.

Thinking about how this could be done...

* They get into the car. As no-one is in the driver's seat, the screen switches off
* Passenger wakes the car up by leaning over and pressing the break pedal with their right hand
* Passenger accidentally knocks the gear + AP stalks down while trying to sit upright. They are leaning on the driver's seat so the car goes into D.
* Last-used TACC speed limit is 70++

tacc does mandate seatbelt use.
 
tacc does mandate seatbelt use.
The only way this could have been done is via TACC, not by AP. I don't think TACC mandates seatbelt use.

Thinking about how this could be done...

* They get into the car. As no-one is in the driver's seat, the screen switches off
* Passenger wakes the car up by leaning over and pressing the break pedal with their right hand
* Passenger accidentally knocks the gear + AP stalks down while trying to sit upright. They are leaning on the driver's seat so the car goes into D.
* Last-used TACC speed limit is 70++
If you owned a Tesla you could tear out tacc seat belt use bro.
 
“It is also possible that they were driving manually, joy riding, went too fast and lost control. When the crash happened, the driver tried to crawl in the back seat to get out, but was unable to before the car caught fire, but it gave the impression the car was driverless when it was not”

-what a stretch.
Well it is a possibility. Not a huge stretch at all.

The about AP being on doesn’t totally add up yet. Sounds like it’s thought they were moving fast. If this wasn’t on a freeway but a surface road still having a hard time understanding how AP was on with speeds great enough to start spontaneous combustion. More data is definitely needed.

But either way what a terrible situation.
 
So this 60 year old guy went to all that trouble and set the AP to high speed in the first couple blocks of leaving the house? Since the car is a P my guess is in showing off to a friend or friend not familiar with the car (if driving) car was being driven fast, lost control and people tried to get out. This all happened in a short time period not on a highway with time to "rig" the car and not sure how it would get to a high rate of speed to do that damage. Does not make sense for all the effort to rig it and on a residential street at these speeds.
Exactly
 
It looks about 400ft from the end of the cul de sac to the fire hydrant, not much slope to the road. No road markings or centre line as it's residential.

Can anyone tell if that street is properly mapped?
Star marks where the wreckage was found, from a car pointed in the westerly direction. Fire-hydrant is ~ 30 yards East of the site (& visible in some of the pictures of the rescue/recovery). Red circle is the most distant spot the car could have started from. Guesstimating 120 yards between the red circle and red star.
120 yards.png
 
Neighbourhood road without road markings. Here in Europe Autopilot will not be available. Is it different in the US?
No. I live in US and AP doesn’t even show as an option if there are no lines. Hopefully more facts come out of this case because right now, what they are suggesting just doesn’t seem plausible. Maybe they were a FSD beta tester and that works differently? Not sure.
 
That’s what I said bro.
I ain’t your brah.... brah! 🤣

Jokes aside, I am sad to see any Tesla owner die in wreck, and as someone who drives a P100D, this accident appears to be all launch mode Paul Walker situation. Autopilot has nothing to do with it. He lost control of the car and hit a tree at very high rate of speed. The power of the vehicle is immense and these types of accidents happen all the time among friends who love showing other friends just how fast their particular car can go.
So my speculative guess is that they were at friend gathering and he took his friend for a ride to show him autopilot and his Tesla.... but they first had to find a real road... showed launch mode first. I’ve done this as well, but never on a road like that. I want empty long straight road and even then Rarely over 60 mph .
 
There goes the neighborhood. The push for regulations are about to heat up, they may even temporarily ban FSD in Tesla's. Why on God's green earth would you trust the car to drive itself enough to get in the back seat. We all know the systems are great, but need manual intervention from time to time.

Wait. What? Doesn't AP turn off if you exit the driver's seat?

Mike