Tesla car crash in California kills driver while running on autopilot

A Tesla vehicle driving in autopilot mode crashed into a roadside barrier and caught fire in a test carried out in California – according to a report by the BBC.
April 3, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

The driver of the Model X car died soon after the incident which occurred on the 23 March 2018.

In a statement, the company confirmed that autopilot was engaged with the adaptive cruise control follow-distance set to minimum. Several visual and one audible hands-on warning were sent to the driver whose hands were not detected on the steering wheel six seconds prior to the collision.

“The driver had about five seconds and 150 metres of unobstructed view of the concrete divider with the crushed crash attenuator, but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken,” the statement added.

The severity of the crash is believed to have been the result of the crash attenuator’s state at the time of the accident. The highway safety barrier, which aims to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, had not been replaced since being crushed in a previous accident.

Tesla’s autopilot system is said to carry out some of the functions of a fully autonomous machine such as braking, accelerating and steering under certain conditions, but operates as a driver assistance system. The company highlighted that it is not intended to work independently and that motorists are required to have their hands on the wheel at all times.

 

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • USDOT releases new fact sheet on connected vehicle safety applications
    October 29, 2015
    The U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) has published a new fact sheet, Connected Vehicle Applications: Safety. This fact sheet includes a brief description of the connected vehicle safety applications that are currently in development or under consideration. The ITS JPO's connected vehicle research aims to tackle some of the biggest safety, mobility, and environmental challenges in the surface transportation industry. Connected vehicle saf
    Read More
  • New report investigates cyber security of connected vehicles
    February 9, 2016
    TU-Automotive has just released a new 60-page report, Cyber Security in the Connected Vehicle 2016, which looks at the role of robust cyber security practices and systems in the connected vehicle now and in the future of the automotive industry.
    Read More
  • Econolite uses ITS world Congress to highlight travel time software
    October 11, 2012
    Econolite will use the ITS World Congress to highlight its Centracs Adaptive and Travel Time software modules. Centracs Adaptive is designed for transportation agencies seeking to significantly improve traffic mobility over pre-programmed signal timing plans. It actively reallocates and adapts signal timing to improve traffic flow, including unpredictable or unexpected traffic conditions. Centracs Travel Time module enables Centracs ATMS to subscribe to BlueToad travel time and speed data to provide both hi
    Read More
  • 15 nominees confirmed for Intertraffic Amsterdam Innovation Award 2018
    January 30, 2018
    An international jury of transportation experts have shortlisted 15 candidates across the five categories: Infrastructure, Traffic Management, Safety, Parking and Smart Mobility for the Intertraffic Amsterdam Innovation Award 2018. The final winners will be announced at the opening ceremony of the three day event, which will take place from 20-23 March. Under Infrastructure, Saedi has been selected for its FlexLight Bollard, which is designed with the intention of combining the advantages of different kind
    Read More

Highlighted Content