New Details About Fatal Tesla Crash Emerge

[Platapus]

I don't think these cars should be allowed to engage any type of "autopilot" until the technology is mature, tested, and certified to be safe.

In this mode, this car was, in my opinion, essentially an experimental vehicle being driven uncontrolled on a public road.

What was the speed limit on the road? I would imagine that the first thing any type of autopilot would do is not exceed the speed limit.

Interesting technology but way too immature to be used on public streets.

[Torplexed]

AP & Reuters reported that the driver had a portable DVD player with him and was watching a Harry Potter movie. After passing under the truck the vehicle traveled another quarter mile before hitting a telephone pole. The driver had 8 speeding tickets. Friends describe him as fearless and a speed demon.

Apparently, this guy thought he had an autonomous car already and was "driving" like he did. You do get the impression that a lot of people out there are anxious to shed all personal initiative and responsibility even before the technology that they want to surrender it to is mature.

[Skybird]

What if Carl Benz 150 years ago would have bee confronted with the calculation of how many traffic kills his invention would score per anno, worldwide (far over one million, says the WHO, btw), and if somebody would have calculated for him how his invention would contribute to the emmission of climate-critical pollution? We probably would have no cars today, for his invention would have been stopped-to-death in its infant shoes. This is how a German TV anchorm commented on the issue yesterday.

Tesla says that statisctically every 150 million kilometers driven in a normal car somebody dies due to traffic accident cause dby car. The Tesla model now had already driven 225 million km.

We also know how notoriously irresponsible and incompetent especially young male drivers in the age group 18-25 can be if you let them take control of a wheel. Lets face it: a good ammount of young men from that age group should be banned from driving until they reach the mid-20s.

Finally we know from other transportation, espoecially train, that the majority of accidents get caused not due to failing technology, but failing humans.

Personally I feel little sympathy for automatic car driving - but if it is technologically possible, the development has plotted course for it in the future for sure. Its always like this with technology. What can be done, will be done.

Still I plead to leave this accident in relation to all car traffic there is - and the accident numbers that traditional carcv traffic causes: and almost always due to human error. I wonder how the description of the killed Tesla driver fits into that last sentence again.

[Oberon]

Tesla autopilot helps save a mans life:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articl...onary-embolism

[Bilge_Rat]

I have been driving over 40 years and have seen way too many crazy/moronic/stupid/distracted/enraged/dangerous/blind drivers to ever, ever put my faith in an automatic system.

I never text while driving, concentrate 100% of my attention on the road around me. I even turn off the radio when approaching a particularly tricky merge in my daily commute to maintain full concentration (anyone else do that?).

[Buddahaid]

Yes, only I rarely listen to anything save a ballgame.

[Skybird]

There was an essay in German media recently, raising an interesting issue. If cars drive autonomously, and end up in a situation where an accident under whatever circumstances is inevitable, may it be due to the autonomous car, may it be to another car, bike, bicycle or pedestrian - which human should the car decide to kill then?