Tesla crash

[AutobahnSHO]

http://www.thedrive.com/news/3497/another-tesla-model-s-may-have-crashed-while-driving-itself?xid=fbdt

Dummies need to learn to drive.

[CaminoRacer]

She was definitely not going 40 mph when she hit the other car. I'd guess 10.

[MX793]

She was definitely not going 40 mph when she hit the other car. I'd guess 10.

Car in front of her may not have been completely stopped at the time of collision.

[giant_mtb]

Oh, look, user error.  That's what happens when rich people are allowed to be idiots as well. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Oh, look, user error.  That's what happens when rich people are allowed to be idiots as well. 

+1

[Byteme]

From the article:

Tesla says that according to the car's data logs, Simpson manually applied the brakes at some point, which deactivated both the Autopilot cruise control and, oddly enough, the car's automatic emergency braking system.

I'd assume just a slight tap on the brakes, like deactivates the average cruise control, would be enough.  Seems odd to me as well that would also deactivate the automatic emergency braking system.

This highlights one of my main concerns about semi autonomous or fully autonomous cars.  To fully take control in the event of system failure or other emergency the driver would need to be alert to road and traffic conditions and positioned with their feet and hands on or near the controls.  In reality I can't see people doing that.  Many people will be ding everything from reading, eating, texting, joining the mile-a-minute-club

[Galaxy]

Dummies need to learn to drive.

To be fair the vibe one gets from Tesla, and more so from Musk himself is that the thing can drive itself.

[AutobahnSHO]

yeah, that's the allure- "I don't have to drive" yet that's not what the system can do (or is designed to do) yet.

There needs to be an obvious indicator that the car is in control, or not in control- like "I Robot" where the manual controls are recessed or pop out.

[CaminoRacer]

More user error!

http://electrek.co/2016/06/06/tesla-model-x-crash-not-at-fault/

[GoCougs]

Pretty much the same as with Toyota a few years ago - the MSM brings out the morons and crooks looking to exploit a non truth.

[ifcar]

Pretty much the same as with Toyota a few years ago - the MSM brings out the morons and crooks looking to exploit a non truth.

Only in this case, Tesla has extremely detailed black-box information to very clearly prove what was happening.

[AutobahnSHO]

Wow the loonies are looney. (comments section on that last article)

[GoCougs]

Only in this case, Tesla has extremely detailed black-box information to very clearly prove what was happening.

Toyota also had immediate info that proved the same for its cases (cars have had "black boxes" for quite some time), backed up by mountains of testing and of course all put to rest with the NHTSA/NASA report.

[giant_mtb]

More user error!

http://electrek.co/2016/06/06/tesla-model-x-crash-not-at-fault/

Sounds like a simple case of mistaking the accelerator for the brake.  I dunno why people won't just admit that they fucked up.

[AutobahnSHO]

Sounds like a simple case of mistaking the accelerator for the brake.  I dunno why people won't just admit that they fucked up.

They should install an "emergency pedal" which disengages the engine from the transition. Also an "emergency shift function" which limits the speed of the car in each selection.... Then people won't be randomly crashing their cars or dying while on the phone with 911....


---------------------------------
Notice that this crazy phenomenon is not experienced in places where the law pushes more accountability on individuals for their actions.

[93JC]

Sounds like a simple case of mistaking the accelerator for the brake.  I dunno why people won't just admit that they fucked up.

Because, on a balance of probabilities, a lot of Toyota owners made the same mistake and they got money out of it. They probably genuinely believe they did not mistake the accelerator for the brake pedal.

It'll be interesting to see what happens as Tesla grows, if Tesla keeps growing. These sorts of issues are going to become more commonplace, and if the Model 3 ever becomes a success they're really going to have to change their tune lest their customer service be branded 'hostile'.

[AutobahnSHO]

Well, by initially nipping that problem in the bud, won't have to deal with as many in the future.

[93JC]

Ooooh no they won't. You watch, I guarantee it'll get worse. People don't like being told they're wrong.

From "The Engineer's Lament" by Malcolm Gladwell:

In the wake of the sticky-pedal problem, customers started complaining that Toyotas were prone to sudden, unintended acceleration. “Whenever someone called in to say, ‘I’ve had an episode of unintended acceleration,’ Toyota would dispatch a team of engineers,” said Roger Martin, a former dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and a member of the advisory panel that Toyota put together during the crisis. “And they would do a thorough examination of the car and pronounce it fine—because it always was—and assure the owner that everything was going to be fine. They were probably just pressing the accelerator when they thought they were pressing the brake. There wasn’t a problem. Just be more careful next time. And they got more and more complaints.”

The engineers were right. A series of exhaustive investigations by federal regulators, with help from nasa engineers, established that the perception of an electronic failure was almost certainly illusory. The problem was caused either by the fact that some people put in poorly fitted, nonstandard floor mats or by the fact that drivers were pressing the accelerator thinking that it was the brake. (Pedal error, as it is known, is a well-documented source of vehicle malfunction, affecting drivers of many makes and models.) Cars are engineered to be tolerant of pedal error: the driver who depresses the accelerator, thinking it’s the brake, still has the option of simply putting the car in neutral or turning it off. (That’s one of the reasons that cars have gearshifts and ignition switches.) But in the public mind a car that accelerated unexpectedly was broken. The teams of engineers that Toyota sent out didn’t make the problem better. They made it worse.

“The Toyota guy explained this to the panel,” Martin went on. “He said, ‘Here’s our process.’ So I said to him, ‘What do you imagine the people are thinking? They’re shaking like a leaf at the side of the road and after that whole experience they are told, “The car’s fine. Chill out. Don’t make mistakes anymore.” Of course they are not going to be happy. These people are scared. What if instead you sent people out who could be genuinely empathetic? What if you said, “We’re sorry this happened. What we’re worried about is your comfort and your confidence and your safety. We’re going to check your car. If you’re just scared of this car, we’ll take it back and give you another, because your feeling of confidence matters more than anything else.” ’ It was a sort of revelation. He wasn’t a dumb guy. He was an engineer. He only thought about doing things from an engineer’s standpoint.

Being overly aggressive in their denials will make Tesla look like a dickhead company that will fuck over its customers to maintain a reputation, even if they're absolutely 100% correct.

[Raza]

User error was buying the big Power Wheels in the first place.