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Posted on 06/30/2016 9:18:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Joshua D. Brown, of Canton, Ohio, died in the accident May 7 in Williston, Florida, when his car’s cameras failed to distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer from a brightly lit sky and didn’t automatically activate its brakes, according to government records obtained Thursday.
Frank Baressi, 62, the driver of the truck and owner of Okemah Express LLC, said the Tesla driver was “playing Harry Potter on the TV screen” at the time of the crash and driving so quickly that “he went so fast through my trailer I didn’t see him.”
“It was still playing when he died and snapped a telephone pole a quarter mile down the road,” Baressi told The Associated Press in an interview from his home in Palm Harbor, Florida. He acknowledged he couldn’t see the movie, only heard it.
Tesla Motors Inc. said it is not possible to watch videos on the Model S touch screen. There was no reference to the movie in initial police reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
software bug
I remember when software bugs just meant you had to restart your computer, now days they crash your car killing you...
No more fun for Nightrider
The Ohio State Police made a movie called “Signal Seven” that was used for driver’s education when I went to High School in Pennsylvania. Gruesome photos designed to scare us into driving safely. Mostly worked. I guess they have another entry.
failed to distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer
The car expected ALL tractor-trailers to be painted white?
“he went so fast through my trailer I didn’t see him.”
Through my trailer?
he died and snapped a telephone pole a quarter mile down the road
A quarter mile down the road, so, what killed the driver?
Usually, if a self driving car gets into an accident, there are rapidly issued disclaimers saying: It was the fault of the driver in the other vehicle refusing to follow the law, not the self driving vehicle. I don’t hear them saying that yet.
This may be an unfortunate learning moment that will have to be considered from now on. I thought the car would have had sensors on the outside to detect the oncoming presence of the truck. With this death, the prospect of self driving autos has suddenly become serious.
Just a software bug, nothing to worry about.
Everything you’ve mentioned, and more make this suspect as hell.
The moment a Tesla touches anything else it will stop. A 1/4 mile away ? Not likely. A collision with a trailer sent the car THROUGH the trailer, still operating under it’s own power ? The driver was dead at that point ? Or when it went through the pole (Snapped it?) This is all VERY suspect.
As we know, auto sensors and other components never malfunction.
I will never have an automated driving vehicle.
Never.
Ya. Can you imagine thousands of them on the streets?
But you’ll have to worry about the other guy.
Maybe the sensors were covered by dirt.
I remember that one from my drivers ed class in high school.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mGPz2a5P_E
They sure couldn’t show this now.
how’s the car?
One of those Apollo 1 moments where scientists say “well, we hadn’t considered that...”
smart cars will kill you for the greater good.
white?
American?
Human?
You are killing the planet! exterminate! exterminate!
sounds like trailer truck was making a wide turn from the wrong lane.
Yeah, no thanks. I’ll do the driving if you don’t mind.
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