Someone Drove Their Tesla Model X Into A Building And Tried To Blame Autopilot
What you’re looking at here is the aftermath of a hefty Tesla Model X crash in Irvine, California. The owner - whose wife was driving at the time - took to the Tesla Forum to claim the car ‘autonomously’ accelerated without warning, running over a load of plants before smashing into a building.
However, in a statement to Electrek, Tesla pinned the blame entirely upon the driver:
“We analyzed the vehicle logs which confirm that this Model X was operating correctly under manual control and was never in Autopilot or cruise control at the time of the incident or in the minutes before. Data shows that the vehicle was traveling at 6mph when the accelerator pedal was abruptly increased to 100 per cent.”
To sum up, it seems the driver mashed her foot down on the accelerator pedal, presumably mistaking it for the brake. ‘Unintended acceleration’ it’s usually called, and it’s quite common. We can only assume in this case the driver figured the presence of Tesla’s Autopilot gave the perfect opportunity to try and shift the blame elsewhere, onto a system which is still in its infancy and in the process of proving itself.
Despite the damning evidence shown in the driver logs, the car’s owner seems determined to stick to the original story, telling Electrek:
“My wife is a 45-year-old woman with a great driving record…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.”
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
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.”
Worst excuse ever ^^
We’ve had drive by wire throttle bodies since more than 15 years now, don’t tell me this guy that can afford a model X never drove a car newer than a 2000MY!
His wife HAD a great driving record… there is a first for everything ;)
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Has anyone reliezed Matt Robinson putting out post after post. Great work Matt keep it up!
She’s lucky that she crashed into a building made with cardboard. Try doing that into a building properly made by bricks and concrete; and that Tesla would been properly smashed.
Irvine, California. The owner - whose wife was driving at the time
Not to be sexist but — is anyone at ALL surprised that a wife in an expensive car in California did this?
I scrolled down for this
Those guys who advertise at the wrong time…
These are the same people that use to say “Well, my GPS told me to turn left here. So I did”
Savage
There’s a more likely explanation. The car is drive by wire. There is a little rotational sensor (potentiometer perhaps) at the gas petal. A common failure of those parts is to give a false input at one extreme end of its range, in this case full throttle. So the car saw the sensor say the throttle was full and logged it, but the driver never touched it.
Also, Tesla is the only one to see the log data. They could also be lying to protect their company.
next they’ll say that autopilot crashed my car into the nuclear powerplant, and I was trying so hard to not say crowd