Tesla’s ‘Full Self-driving’ features were reportedly on during a previously reported fatal crash with a motorcyclist, according to the police.
In April, we reported on a tragic accident where a driver in a Tesla vehicle admitted to using “Autopilot” and not paying attention when he drove “his car lurched forward and crashed into the motorcycle in front of him” – killing the motorcyclist.
According to the original report, the driver admitted that he was using ‘Autopilot’ and not paying attention.
Now, a new police report following access to the Tesla’s vehicle data claims that the vehicle was actually using Tesla’s latest ‘Full Self-Driving’ system.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide because of his lack of attention (via Reuters):
The 56-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide based on his admission that he was looking at his cell phone while using the driver assistant feature.
According to NHTSA, this is the second known fatal crash while Tesla’s Full Self-Driving features were activated.
Electrek’s Take
Top comment by Joshua Rosen
FSD has reached the point where it's much safer than a human driver except when it isn't. I'm using it all the time, it has much better situational awareness than me. It never cuts anyone off, I do because I don't see people who are coming up on me. It reacts appropriately when someone cuts me off. However there are still situations where you have to be prepared to react instantly. It doesn't handle obstructions in the road. In the last month I've encountered a tire and a chair on the highway. FSD gave no indication that it saw them but fortunately I did and I swerved to avoid the obstacles. On the other hand a deer jumped out in front of me and FSD stopped the car before I noticed the deer. It also doesn't handle construction well, when the road narrows down to one lane it doesn't seem to notice. For these reasons it still has to be supervised but I believe the combination of FSD plus a human is much safer than a human alone.
In the last couple of weeks they've switched to eye tracking to see if you are paying attention. It's much stricter than the old twiddle the steering wheel method. If you look away for more than a second it gives you a nag and if you don't look back in time it will disable FSD. It's a little too sensitive because you need to check the screen every now and then and it's not coll with that. I expect they will adjust it soon, maybe even in today's update. Looking at a phone as this culprit did is no longer possible.
Again, the responsibility is with the driver. Tesla says that you have to pay attention when using these features and therefore, if something happens while you are not paying attention. It’s on you.
However, I think Tesla is very well aware that his system is being abused by some people and I think it has a responsibility to try to curb abuse.
There are simply too many people who believe it is safe to use these features without paying attention. I think that comments made by Tesla’s own CEO and people that Tesla and Musk frequently promote have contributed to that.
You can’t dumb-proof everything, but I think Tesla should put more effort into discouraging abuse. It’s literally a life or death situation.
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