Tesla autopilot doesn't notice a tractor trailer, fatal crash

[jyl]

Tesla’s Autopilot being investigated by the government following fatal crash | Ars Technica

Sounds like tractor trailer turned left through oncoming lanes, and Tesla autopilot drove right into it without applying brakes, car went under trailer and driver was killed. Presumably decapitated. Tesla says autopilot did not notice the white trailer against the bright sky.

I thought the Tesla has a front facing radar?

[Arizona_928]

It was a matter of time before someone killed themselves over that stupid auto pilot feature.
****er deserves it. More $$$ then brain cells.

[TheMentat]

Strange... and unfortunate. I have to imagine the driver was not paying attention?

[Gogar]

I think the whole idea of "semi-autonomous" is a really, really, really, bad road to be semi-going down.

[vash]

he was a test pilot..test driver?

that sucks..and i dont think he deserved it.

[Chocaholic]

He definitely did not deserve it. That statement is beyond reprehensible.

RIP

[impactbumper]

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

It was a matter of time before someone killed themselves over that stupid auto pilot feature.
****er deserves it. More $$$ then brain cells.

Wow

[rwest]

Tragic way to find flaws in the system. Driver did not deserve to die while advancing technology.

I'm very excited about autonomous cars in hard core traffic areas, I think they might be able to knock out traffic jams.

Got to think that if the truck was autonomous too, they would have been "talking" to each other making it safer. The transition between a few autonomous vehicles and most being autonomous will be the most dangerous.

[JD159]

Originally Posted by AZ_porschekid

It was a matter of time before someone killed themselves over that stupid auto pilot feature.
****er deserves it. More $$$ then brain cells.

Somebody is a POS.

****er deserves it.

[jyl]

I think it is weird that forward radar wouldn't detect a broadside tractor trailer.

[Arizona_928]

Guns don't kill people, automated driving cars do.

[legion]

As a computer programmer, automatic cars scare the crap out of me. They hit a situation they don't understand, and this is what happens, every time the situation is encountered. I'm not comfortable with the idea that I may be the first one to hit a situation the developers didn't think about.

[aigel]

Reads like the color of the truck and lighting was with regards to the human error. Why the teslas radar didn't pick it up is the real question, at least a few meters before impact. Was the truck too tall?

[jyl]

The human not noticing, is easy. He may have been dozing, reading the paper, surfing the web.

The car not noticing, is weird. I can see the autopilot being programmed to disregard bridges and overpasses, but the truck was low enough to take off the top of the car, so it wasn't that high off the ground, and obviously it's wheels would have been at ground level.

I don't think this should be an unanticipated situation . . . a large vehicle turning in front of the car seems pretty foreseeable.

Seems there have been many reports of the Tesla autopilot doing scary things, entering curves way too fast etc. I don't think the autopilot can possibly have been thoroughly tested in autonomous mode, look at how long Google has been testing its self driving cars. Has Tesla been reckless in enabling and advertising Autopilot?.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by rwest

Tragic way to find flaws in the system. Driver did not deserve to die while advancing technology.

I'm very excited about autonomous cars in hard core traffic areas, I think they might be able to knock out traffic jams.

Got to think that if the truck was autonomous too, they would have been "talking" to each other making it safer. The transition between a few autonomous vehicles and most being autonomous will be the most dangerous.

You do realize that the guy who died proably thought like you do. And yet, somehow you seem to not notice, other than to call it a tragic way to find flaws in the system.

Really, man? You guys are nuts.

[wdfifteen]

What does Tesla claim this system can do? Does it assist the driver or actually drive? I would welcome a backup system to a human driver, but there is no way I'm going to sit in a car and ignore the road while it drives. Too many variables out there.

[jyl]

https://www.teslamotors.com/presskit/autopilot

[dentist90]

This is going to be a new and lucrative field for liability and personal injury lawyers. A car manufacturer simply cannot advise you to trust their autopilot without backing it up (financially). The mix of autonomous cars and human controlled ones will be a litigator's wet dream. Hell, even automated rail transit screws up occasionally, and they are on tracks going in one direction!

[Tervuren]

Sounds like the error may lay heaviest on the truck that cut over multiple lanes of traffic.

[dewolf]

Cars have a steering wheel and foot pedals for a reason.