According to recent reports, Tesla Model S was involved in a fatal crash. The fatal crash of the Tesla Model S leads to the death of the driver. At the point of the crash, the car was on auto pilot mode. The crash has already invoked quite a few questions about the feasibility of the auto pilot mode. The makers have released the details of the fatal crash in a blog post. The reports have it that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is already investigating the accident.

The fatal crash involving the auto pilot mode of Tesla Model S occurred on a divided highway in Central Florida on 7th May. The incident took place when a tractor moved into the path of the Model S. Neither the driver seated in the car nor the auto pilot mode sensed the large tractor in the path. As a result of no one sensing the large tractor on the road, the brakes were not applied leading to the fatal accident.

Tesla Motors’ CEO Elon Musk tweeted after the incident suggesting that the brakes were not applied as the radar on the vehicle did not catch the tractor. He added, “tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events.” It was possibly due to the height of the tractor that the auto pilot system missed out. The height might just have resulted in making the syste believe that the car can go underneath the tractor. It is believed that in case the tractor was in the path of the car straight, the accident could have been prevented.

According to the statistics, Tesla’s Auto Pilot mode has already been used for 130 million miles and has had only 1 fatal accident. While the same statistic is 94 million miles before a crash for USA. The number drops significantly to 60 million miles when you consider the whole world. Well, the NHTSA is conducting the investigation of the accident.
Share