Tesla's Autopilot system was engaged during fatal Florida crash in March - NTSB

Reuters ^ | 5/16/19 | David Shepardson

[Yossarian]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tesla Inc's Autopilot feature was engaged during a fatal March 1 crash of a 2018 Model 3 in Delray Beach, Florida, in at least the third fatal U.S. crash reported involving the driver-assistance system, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday.

The NTSB's preliminary report said the driver engaged Autopilot about 10 seconds before crashing into a semitrailer, and the system did not detect the driver's hands on the wheel for fewer than eight seconds before the crash.

The vehicle was traveling at about 68 miles (109 km) per hour (mph) on a highway with a 55-mph (89-kph) speed limit, and neither the system nor the driver made any evasive maneuvers, the agency said.

Tesla said in a statement that soon after the crash it shared information with regulators about the Autopilot status and said after the driver engaged the system he "immediately removed his hands from the wheel. Autopilot had not been used at any other time during that drive."

[neverevergiveup]

All of us have had enough experience with computers crashing and unexpected things happening such that putting an onboard computer in charge of your life (not to mention the lives of others around you) doesn't seem like a very good idea. They can't even get GPS right (I've been in Manhattan and had GPS tell me ‘now, make a U-turn’, which I did, after which it again told me ‘now, make a U-turn’.

[Moonman62]

Regardless, the driver is supposed to keep his hands on the wheel, remain alert, and be able to take over.

Trucks aren’t supposed to pull out in front of cars from private driveways either.

[Oscar in Batangas]

Tesla - 3
Boeing - 2

[tallyhoe]

I guess you can’t trust Autopilot systems!

[EVO X]

I have no disputes with your observations..

[cuban leaf]

Yeah, that’s what the Toyota did. But it really only works on the freeway. The annoying part of the speed control was when I pulled out of one lane and into another, and I was closer to the car in the lane I just pulled into, it slams on the brakes. It really makes the Cruise control pretty worthless for me except when there is zero traffic.

We were looking at buying a new Camry. This nixed it. I’m checking to see if there is a way to turn that part of the cruise feature off.

Frankly, the only use those features have for me is if the car is completely self driving. Otherwise, I don’t need it, or want it.

[hanamizu]

On the Honda you can control how sensitive the adaptive cruise control is. The Camry you were driving might have been set to full sensitivity. When I’m driving long distance, I find it much better than the older system. Also Apple Play lets me use Waze/Google Maps so there’s no need for the car’s navigation.