What Is Tesla's Autopilot Mode? Driver Dies While Using It; Elon Musk Tweets
A 40-year-old man died in a fatal accident while using Autopilot mode in a highway in Willisto, Florida, May 7.
The victim was identified as Joshua Brown, a resident in Ohio. Reports from National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) said he was driving a Tesla Model S with Autopilot activated when "a tractor trailer made a left turn in front of the TELSA at an intersection on a non-controlled access highway." The bottom of the 18 wheeler trailer impacted the windshield of the Tesla car. He died due to multiple injuries received.
The driver of the tractor trailer was identified as Frank Baressi, 62, a resident of Tampa. News articles revealed that Baressi was uninjured.
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In a blog post by the Tesla Team, it is said that the autopilot wasn't able to detect the trailer passing across the highway, that's why there was no brake applied. The incident was marked as Tesla's first known death in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated.
Autopilot's Technological Advancement
Autopilot became one of the most advanced driving features because it uses radar and forward facing cameras to detect the image and position of cars, and enables the car to adjust speed accordingly.
While the autopilot is known as "a system used to control the trajectory of a vehicle without constant 'hands-on' control by a human operator being required," the Tesla Team still explained in their post the importance of maintaining control and responsibility whether or not the Autopilot is activated. They also claimed that despite of the technological advancement of autopilot, it doesn't guarantee perfection that's why alertness and focus in driving is really required.
In addition to that, Brown was actually an expert advocate for the Tesla's autopilot feature. Telsa Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk emphasized that the Autopilot wasn't a mere failure by sharing on his tweet one of Brown's posted video on YouTube, showing that the Model S car was able to avoid collision with another car with the help of its Autopilot feature. In that said video, Brown wrote on the decription that he wasn't actually paying attention to the road and with the help of the autopilot, his car was able to move to the right, avoiding the possible clash with another taking over.
It raised many reactions among viewers due to it's ironic turn of events--the Autopilot which saved him from collision has failed to do it's job soon after,
On the other hand, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is doing investigations regarding the incident. They claimed that they "will examine the design and performance of the automated driving systems in use at the time of the crash." They also said that "depending on the findings, could result in a recall of 25,000 Tesla vehicles and pressure to change the software."
The incident has served as a lesson to drivers to become less dependent on automated driving, and become more cautious and attentive while on the road.
