X owner claims unintended acceleration caused accident

[FlatSix911]

Maybe it was his teenage son. Or his brother. Or him (the logical conclusion, since he said he was driving). But your assumption was it was a 'lady driver'. I understand people tend to filter their assumptions based on their personal life experience. Hence your statement and then my reaction. Peace.

Oh I see the problem. You didn't read the thread. Peace.

The guy SAID his wife was driving. She wasn't assuming it was a woman... the guy said it was a woman.

You are Correct, Sir ...

Update: The owner of the Model X sent us the following statement – confirming that his wife was driving the vehicle at the time,
but he is sticking with her version of the event. In other words, that the Model X accelerated on its own:

Tesla logs show that Model X driver hit the accelerator, Autopilot didn’t crash into building on its own

“My wife is a 45-year-old woman with a great driving record. Not and incapacitated driver. She has been going to that center for over 20 years and parking in the same stalls hundreds of times.

She knows the difference between brake and accelerator pedal. I am waiting to hear from Tesla whether the accelerator pedal can be depressed by the car electronically similar to gas-powered cars’ pedal being depressed on their own while in cruise control.”

 

[electracity]

The crash apparently damaged an elevator shaft. Impressive low speed torque and traction control. ICE couldn't do that much damage from 6mph.

 

[Caligula]

 

[Oceanwolf]

You are Correct, Sir ...

Update: The owner of the Model X sent us the following statement – confirming that his wife was driving the vehicle at the time,
but he is sticking with her version of the event. In other words, that the Model X accelerated on its own:

Tesla logs show that Model X driver hit the accelerator, Autopilot didn’t crash into building on its own

This guy is now definitely in trouble. He told his wife's age to the whole world. Oh man, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes...

 

[electracity]

That almost sounded like he started the car in gear. That problem used to kill farmers when starting a tractor while standing on the ground.

 

[roblab]

Nonetheless, Tesla should make their Automatic Emergency Braking better.

I don't understand. I thought that AP handled automatic emergency braking, and putting your foot on the accelerator or brake canceled AP. Although the government wants to make emergency braking work "every time", how can that be when someone is accelerating manually into a brick building?

My car already starts beeping and slowing when someone pulls toward a left turn lane. I am able to put my foot on the pedal and gently convince it that I am in control, as I pass the nearly stopped car that sits partly in my lane. I do not understand how anyone feels that the car should come to a screeching halt when I am able to steer around it. I have the same problem when driving down a road and the car sees a car parked in my lane -- almost. Sure, it's over the line. But I am able to tell it if I can get around.

The answer is, that if YOU are in control, the car is not.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I'm a little confused about why ALL the airbags went off.

Did all those airbags need to go off in a frontal collision? I thought airbags these days were directional and only went off when needed. Or I'm I greatly mistaken?

 

[Buckeye4]

I'm a little confused about why ALL the airbags went off.

Did all those airbags need to go off in a frontal collision? I thought airbags these days were directional and only went off when needed. Or I'm I greatly mistaken?

Ever see a rebound? Where your head snaps back in the same direction as the initial impact? Would you want an unneeded airbag deployed there?

 

[ecarfan]

would like to know, that in the event of a serious accident, is there any way I can download the drive logs onto a USB drive to preserve as evidence? In this case, perhaps an accident deconstructionist can review both your copy of the logs and the version Tesla downloaded from the car to see if they're

Only Tesla can access the vehicle log files, for the very good reasons that @xkwizit described.

I am not surprised that this unfortunate accident was yet another case of the driver believing they were pressing the brake pedal but in fact pressing the accelerator pedal. Human error.

I hope that soon Tesla develops AEB more fully so it will prevent accidents like this. The ultrasonic sensors should be able to detect a wall in time to override the driver and apply the brakes. The car's software will never get confused about which pedal to "push".

 

[JeffK]

I'm a little confused about why ALL the airbags went off.

Did all those airbags need to go off in a frontal collision? I thought airbags these days were directional and only went off when needed. Or I'm I greatly mistaken?

The front driver's bag and the curtain bags (on both sides) went off because of the front corner impact. It doesn't look like the passenger bag went off because there was no passenger.
I can't see a good angle if the side impact bags went off.

 

[CuriousG]

If we are to believe Tesla's data logs, this is how I believe the series of events happened:

Driver parks in standard parking lot facing forward.
Driver forgets to engage parking through the stalk or thinks they hit the button.
Driver attempts to get out of car but due to creep being engaged, car starts to roll.
Driver panics in an attempt to stop the vehicle but hits the accelerator instead of brake.
Vehicle accelerates with 100% torque
Post article and hope to profit from bonehead mistake

Sure the driver has a good record, but this is a new car and the stalk to engage gears is certainly new. I have on more than one occasion attempted to get out of the car while the car was still in drive but was responsive enough to engage the brakes for it to only move a few inches. Time to get used to engaging hill hold to prevent this from happening on complete stops or turn off creep. Or better yet make sure you engage the brakes.

Since Tesla says no AP or TACC was engaged, I think they're SOL. Not only that, I don't think AP or TACC can accelerate 100%. It may at times do brisk acceleration or gradual, certainly not accelerate like the pedal was depressed all the way to the floor.

 

[Az_Rael]

but this is a new car and the stalk to engage gears is certainly new

Using the stalk to engage gears used to be very common. "Three on the tree" and all. Some cars still use it - I just drove a rented suburban that had a stalk gearshift lever. So I would say it's more old-fashioned rather than "new"

 

[ohmman]

Using the stalk to engage gears used to be very common. "Three on the tree" and all. Some cars still use it - I just drove a rented suburban that had a stalk gearshift lever. So I would say it's more old-fashioned rather than "new"

My 1977 Yanmar tractor has the shifter on the column. It's missing Autopilot, though...

 

[CuriousG]

Using the stalk to engage gears used to be very common. "Three on the tree" and all. Some cars still use it - I just drove a rented suburban that had a stalk gearshift lever. So I would say it's more old-fashioned rather than "new"

I know the stalk isn't new I remember an old station wagon we had as kids where it was up there. I'm referring to pressing the button to put it in park and engage the parking brakes.

I'm just stating that most cars still have the gears in the center console area and most likely the driver was coming from that same setup from their previous car.

 

[MP3Mike]

If we are to believe Tesla's data logs, this is how I believe the series of events happened:

Driver parks in standard parking lot facing forward.
Driver forgets to engage parking through the stalk or thinks they hit the button.
Driver attempts to get out of car but due to creep being engaged, car starts to roll.
Driver panics in an attempt to stop the vehicle but hits the accelerator instead of brake.
Vehicle accelerates with 100% torque
Post article and hope to profit from bonehead mistake.

I don't think so, didn't Tesla say that the X was moving at ~6 MPH when it was floored? So the driver was pulling in to the spot going a little too fast and jabbed what they thought was the break, shooting the X into the corner of the building.

 

[Xminus6]

I see you aren't familiar with how easily Model S' get totaled out. My friend's P85 got rear ended and it resulted in a total loss. The damage was MUCH less extensive than this.

I had a fender bender with a concrete column in my office parking garage and it cost over 12% of the new car cost just to repair it. Left rear quarter panel and bumper were affected. Aluminum is expensive to fix. I don't think it would take too much to total a Tesla.

 

[FarmerDave]

Statement from Tesla is that acco

My 1977 Yanmar tractor has the shifter on the column. It's missing Autopilot, though...

It does have cruise control though, right?

 

[azred]

Bottom line is that
1. The insurance company and Tesla will retain the car for a while till the investigation is complete
2. So it won't even get to repairs if the Insurance company is at all interested in getting it repaired
3. This happened on just the fifth day of ownership..I feel sorry for the family who likely just started to enjoy their beautiful Model X and will be out of it for months now.

I felt sorry for them yesterday, but now I feel sorry for Tesla, which has suffered huge damage to the reputation of their cars as this story has spread in the media like wildfire. I also feel sorry for the wife. Her loud mouth husband has now been embarrassed by her lie and he is not likely to be happy about it. I realize I don't know him, but the fact he came to Tesla's forum to call on them to stop selling Model X's doesn't speak to a real stable, mature individual. He'll be lucky if Tesla doesn't sue him.

 

[Dr ValueSeeker]

David Noland of greencarreports experienced a very similar situation in his 2013 Model S 2 years ago.
Life With Tesla Model S: UPDATE On Pedal Placement Problem

This one also is likely a 'Design Induced Human Error (DIHE)'. Tesla may not be completely out of the woods yet. The logs should definitely be released for independent third party verification.
Design-induced Human Errors - Who's to Blame?

The recent AP accidents in US & Europe, and the summon incident where a Model S drove itself under a trailer likely also fall under DIHE. I mean, if the AP gives up at the last moment, just before the collision, how is anyone supposed to take control and avoid the mishap? It's only a matter of someone actually filing a lawsuit to contest Tesla's claims. Hope Tesla has though throught these.

 

[Canuck]

After it has been proven to him that his wife caused the accident, with the exact particulars of the speed when she accelerated to 100%, he says in reply:

"I am waiting to hear from Tesla whether the accelerator pedal can be depressed by the car electronically similar to gas-powered cars’ pedal being depressed on their own while in cruise control.”

This reveals just how disingenuous he is. Why is he waiting to hear from Tesla on this? He knows the answer - we all do. Of course it does. How else would cruise control work on his vehicle, let alone AP. But he acts as if when Tesla answers "yes" he will be vindicated. And he doesn't even realize how just by asking this question, he looks even worse than he already does. What a bonehead. And it looks like both he and his wife make a great pair. One makes a mistake and the other compounds it. Put them together and there's more morals in a chipmunk than this pair of fools.