A Tesla Model S with the Autopilot system activated was involved in a fatal crash, the first known fatality in a Tesla where Autopilot was active. The company revealed the crash in a blog post posted today and says it informed the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the incident, which is now investigating.
The accident occurred on a divided highway in central Florida when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither the driver — who Tesla notes is ultimately responsible for the vehicle’s actions, even with Autopilot on — nor the car noticed the big rig or the trailer “against a brightly lit sky” and brakes were not applied. In a tweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the vehicle’s radar didn’t help in this case because it “tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events.”
Because of the high ride-height of the trailer, as well as its positioning across the road, the Model S passed under the trailer and the first impact was between the windshield and the trailer. Tesla writes that if the car had impacted the front or rear of the trailer, even at high speed, the car’s safety systems “would likely have prevented serious injury as it has in numerous other similar incidents.”
[vc_btn title=”More on fatal Tesla crash” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F2016%2F6%2F30%2F12072408%2Ftesla-autopilot-car-crash-death-autonomous-model-s|title:More%20on%20fatal%20Tesla%20crash|target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By Jordan Golson, TheVerge, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com July 1, 2016
Video by AP from Inform.com[/vc_message]
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