Skip to main content

Tesla Autopilot feature helps driver get safely to hospital

US driver Joshua Neally made it to safely to hospital by putting his Tesla Model X into Autopilot mode when he suffered what was later diagnosed as a pulmonary embolism. The lawyer was travelling home in growing rush-hour traffic when he began to suffer severe pain in his chest and stomach. Instead of calling an ambulance he used the car’s self-drive mode to negotiate the 20 miles to the nearest hospital. He told Slate that he manually steered it into the parking lot and checked himself into the emergenc
August 10, 2016 Read time: 1 min
US driver Joshua Neally made it to safely to hospital by putting his Tesla Model X into Autopilot mode when he suffered what was later diagnosed as a pulmonary embolism.

The lawyer was travelling home in growing rush-hour traffic when he began to suffer severe pain in his chest and stomach. Instead of calling an ambulance he used the car’s self-drive mode to negotiate the 20 miles to the nearest hospital. He told Slate that he manually steered it into the parking lot and checked himself into the emergency room, where he was promptly treated.

Tesla’s Autopilot is under scrutiny after the driver of a Tesla crashed into a truck in Florida while using the feature. The crash is still under investigation.

Related Content

  • Caltrans develops remote remedy for ailing VMS
    February 18, 2014
    A remote diagnostic system for variable message signs keeps Caltrans staff safer and makes them more efficient. District 12 of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) maintains roads in Orange County including 292 route miles of freeway lanes and 240 directional miles of full-time high occupancy vehicle or carpool lanes. All of these lanes are controlled from the district’s transportation management centre (TMC) using a network of 58 variable message signs (VMS) positioned alongside or abo
  • Bosch launches plug-in sensor to detect driver behaviour
    May 18, 2018
    Bosch Connected Devices and Solutions has launched a retrofit plug-in sensor device which aims to deliver precise event data such as driving behaviour and crash detection for telematics, fleet management and insurance applications. Called the Telematics eCall Plug (TEP), it registers car crash severity and is said to enable faster emergency response times. Additionally, the data can also help to improve safety and allow more personalised behaviour-based insurance by rewarding safe drivers with discounts on
  • Report: 'Red-light cameras have reduced crashes’
    February 27, 2013
    From the beginning, the SafeLight and SafeSpeed programs in the Louisiana city of Lafayette have met with controversy and resistance. However, a newly released report shows that the programs, which began in 2007, have reduced crashes at monitored intersections and improved the city's finances. A new contract with Redflex, the company that runs the program, will provide cameras at four new locations and will deploy two more speed vans by 2016. “We believe that SafeLight and SafeSpeed, the so-called red-light
  • EU Compass4D project begins work
    January 30, 2013
    The new EU co-funded project Compass4D recently launched by Ertico-ITS Europe is designed to prove the benefits of cooperative systems and deploy services for road users to increase road safety and energy efficiency, while reducing the level of congestion in road transport. Compass4D target users are drivers of buses, emergency vehicles, trucks, taxis, electric vehicles and private cars. They all need information to make their driving safer, less stressful and more energy efficient. As a consequence, bus dr