Yet Another Tesla Autopilot Crash Has Been Blamed On Driver Error

Tesla drivers are being urged to treat Autopilot as a driver assist, not a chauffeur, as driver inattention is blamed for yet another crash
Yet Another Tesla Autopilot Crash Has Been Blamed On Driver Error

Another Tesla Autopilot-related crash, another driver found ultimately to blame: that’s the conclusion after a Model S collided with a stationary fire truck last week.

The limitations – and even dangers – of semi-autonomous driving systems have yet again come to the fore after a 28-year-old woman was found to have placed a bit too much trust in the system, which apparently failed to see the massive red truck.

Having tried to pass control of the drive over to the car, the woman is said to have admitted to being busy with her phone just before the accident, in which she sustained a broken ankle despite making a too-little-too-late attempt to retake control.

While Autopilot’s capabilities are impressive, it seems like too many people are treating it as what its over-optimistic name implies. The truth is that the systems simply aren’t good enough yet to allow you to take your eyes off the road, which kind of makes their autonomous capabilities a little pointless. As assistance systems they’re brilliant, but as self-drivers? Hmmm.

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Police Sergeant Samuel Winkler from the South Jordan Police Department in Utah said this in a press release:

“As a reminder for drivers of semi-autonomous vehicles, it is the driver’s responsibility to stay alert, drive safely, and be in control of the vehicle at all times.

“Tesla makes it clear that drivers should always watch the road in front of them and be prepared to take corrective actions. Failure to do so can result in serious injury or death. Check with the vehicle’s owner manual to determine if this technology can be used on city streets or not.”

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Comments

CannedRex24

YouTube in 2025 be like

101 reasons why Tesla went Bankrupt

05/18/2018 - 08:38 |
115 | 4

2025? you are quite optimistic

05/18/2018 - 08:42 |
64 | 3

I doubt people are deterred by Tesla accidents due to the misuse of Autopilot. It’s more about the production delays, bad quality, poor customer communication etc

05/18/2018 - 09:21 |
9 | 2

I don’t understand why everybody is eager to see Tesla fail, it’s the only manufacturer pushing the industry further than 5hp upgrades on new models. Imagine a world where electric car dominates and millions of left over dirt cheap ICE engines and cars are available for projects :D

05/23/2018 - 19:09 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

This is a serious issue. This crash hopefully make drivers of teslas more aware that there car cant always do all of the work. They are SEMI autonomous car not FULLY autonomous ones.

05/18/2018 - 08:43 |
9 | 0
CannedRex24

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

28-year-old woman was found to have placed a bit too much trust in the system, which apparently failed to see the massive red truck

It was both their faults

05/18/2018 - 08:49 |
14 | 3
ATOGI_28

Maybe if tesla renamed auto pilot to something like semi-auto pilot, then people would put less trust into it and not rely on it to heavily and then end up crashing

05/18/2018 - 10:01 |
7 | 0
H5SKB4RU (Returned to CT)

In reply to by ATOGI_28

Why not just disable it?

05/18/2018 - 10:15 |
1 | 1
ᴶᵘˢᵗᴬᴿᵃⁿᵈᵒá

This is hilariously stupid

05/18/2018 - 10:08 |
5 | 2
Anonymous

That’s one reason to drive yourself. Don’t use that autopilot.

05/18/2018 - 10:14 |
4 | 2
UnknownCat13

I get that this accident was down to the drivers attention, and I can definitely agree with that. You should always be attentive and safe while driving.
But you can’t help but think that if Tesla did not try and show off with this gimmick of a system, then all accidents like this could be prevented.

05/18/2018 - 10:16 |
7 | 0
5:19.55

My biggest question is why does the car only ask the driver to take control back? It should slow down if no one’s behind and try to pull over and more than anything have a proper bell/ring noise to catch the driver’s attention.

05/18/2018 - 10:26 |
1 | 0

After some time it will stop the car if the driver don’t put hands on steering wheel..

05/18/2018 - 10:37 |
0 | 0

If the car gets confused it will alert the driver to take control

05/18/2018 - 15:34 |
0 | 0
FLixy Madfox

Maybe people should pay attention to the road?

05/18/2018 - 10:34 |
6 | 0
lukalukic1

She was using phone while driving that is the reason why she crashed…. Now other thing is why ( as much as I love Tesla) safety sistems didn’t react? All the cameras and lasers etc.. even if the autopilot was off or on it should at least slow down the car or even full stop

05/18/2018 - 10:35 |
1 | 0
Anonymous

Do you know what else is Crashing?
Model S s Resale Value .

05/18/2018 - 13:09 |
4 | 0