A fatal accident involving a Tesla Model X occurred about two years ago. There has been speculation for a long time about what caused the accident. This is now certain.
–
• Fatal accident with Tesla autopilot in 2018
• Family blames Tesla autopilot
• The US Department of Transportation sees several factors as the cause
In March 2018, Apple engineer Walter Huang crashed on his way to work near Mountainview, California when his Tesla Model X crashed into a guardrail at high speed. According to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the crashed driver had activated the Tesla’s driver assistance software only 34 minutes before the accident. His family complained that the Tesla autopilot was the reason for the accident. The NTSB has now determined the causes and published the results of the investigation on Tuesday.
Overestimation of the autopilot
Accordingly, there are several factors that should have led to the accident. And here the Tesla autopilot was actually the focus of the investigators. However, Tesla keeps pointing out to its customers that there is a risk that the driver assistant will not operate completely autonomously. The system is semi-autonomous driving, in which the driver must always be attentive and intervene if necessary.
And that was not the case in this accident: According to the investigation, the accident driver had spent his time on the cell phone and played video games. “If you own a semi-autonomous car, you don’t own a self-driving car,” said NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt. If the self-driving mode is switched on, it does not mean that you can read a book, watch a film or send messages on the side.
It’s not just autopilot and driver to blame
The NTSB also found harsh criticism for Apple and the authorities. Too little is done to ensure that smartphones are set during a trip so that they are only used for emergency calls. Corresponding features and modes are currently still voluntary. According to the United States Department of Transportation, these should be mandatory to avoid future accidents. In addition, the driver assistance system as it exists to this day should not have been approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Last but not least, the NTSB also criticized the transport authority, which failed to re-install the crash absorbers at the scene of the accident in good time after they were removed for maintenance work. If these had been appropriate at the time of the accident, the driver might have survived.
In conclusion, it can be said that an attentive driver plays an important role in semi-autonomous vehicles. A large part of the accidents with such cars occurred because the drivers overestimated the driving ability of the driver assistance systems and were engaged in other activities. As research in this area is not yet complete, owners of such vehicles should exercise caution when using the systems and remain alert while driving.
Editorial office finanzen.at
–
Image source: Scott Olson / Getty Images, Lukas Gojda / Shutterstock, Justin Sullivan / Getty Images, humphrey / Shutterstock.com
,
