Driverless Tesla Models S kills first victim...

[The Doctor]

Elon Musk's Tesla reports first death from driverless car Model S

MICHAEL BOW

Elon Musk’s car giant Tesla has reported the first-known fatality from a driverless car, after a passenger died when his self-driving electric saloon crashed into an articulated lorry.

Former Navy Seal, Joshua Brown, 40 from Ohio, died in the crash when his Model S crashed on a motorway in Florida on May 7.

Tesla revealed the fatality last night after US traffic safety regulators opened a preliminary investigation into the collision.

[...]

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/t...-a3285761.html

Clearly, the problem was the fact that an "articulated lorry" shouldn't have been in Florida. So the autopilot failed to recognize it as a threat. The autopilot could have easily avoided a tractor trailer.

[johns624]

He also should have been on a highway or interstate, and not a motorway. What was he doing in a saloon anyways, drinking?

[Daemon of Decay]

He also should have been on a highway or interstate, and not a motorway. What was he doing in a saloon anyways, drinking?

Well he was a sailor...

[Combat Engineer]

Elon Musk's Tesla reports first death from driverless car Model S

MICHAEL BOW

Elon Musk’s car giant Tesla has reported the first-known fatality from a driverless car, after a passenger died when his self-driving electric saloon crashed into an articulated lorry.

Former Navy Seal, Joshua Brown, 40 from Ohio, died in the crash when his Model S crashed on a motorway in Florida on May 7.

Tesla revealed the fatality last night after US traffic safety regulators opened a preliminary investigation into the collision.

[...]

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/t...-a3285761.html

Clearly, the problem was the fact that an "articulated lorry" shouldn't have been in Florida. So the autopilot failed to recognize it as a threat. The autopilot could have easily avoided a tractor trailer.

Driverless cars will never = no wrecks. However this will give us an interesting look at how the legal fights will go after it becomes more widespread.

[Daemon of Decay]

Driverless cars will never = no wrecks. However this will give us an interesting look at how the legal fights will go after it becomes more widespread.

One issue is the emotional reaction from those of us with a perhaps outmoded reaction to them.

Personally, I know it is irrational, but I have a deep mistrust of driver-less vehicles that goes above their relative safety ratings and fatal-incident chances.

It will take me time and an overabundance of evidence in their favor before I'll be willing to truly trust them.

[johns624]

Do I sense a lawsuit in the works????

[Combat Engineer]

The Telesa is a autopilot car, NOT a driverless car. Not the same thing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ash-explained/

[The Doctor]

Driverless cars will never = no wrecks. However this will give us an interesting look at how the legal fights will go after it becomes more widespread.

Driverless cars will always either be defenseless against @@$holes or have to be programmed to be killing machines...

[Daemon of Decay]

Driverless cars will always either be defenseless against @@$holes or have to be programmed to be killing machines...

I guess it wasn't driverless, however. Care for me to change the title to be accurate?

[T. A. Gardner]

The Tesla S is another thing: A rolling road block, like the one that was doing 65 in the diamond lane on I 17 I and like a dozen other people had to go around one and two at a time because everyone but him was doing 75...!

[The Doctor]

The Telesa is a autopilot car, NOT a driverless car. Not the same thing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ash-explained/

If there was no one in the driver's seat...

I know someone who drover a Tesla from the IAH area of Houston to the Energy Corridor without ever touching the wheel or pedals... he was still in the driver's seat.

[The Doctor]

I guess it wasn't driverless, however. Care for me to change the title to be accurate?

The article's headline said "driverless."

[Daemon of Decay]

Death sparks 'Autopilot' car probe; man had speeding tickets

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first American death involving a car in self-driving mode presents a dilemma: How aggressively to embrace the potentially life-saving technology after a fatal crash. The driver's history of speeding complicates the question.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the design and performance of the Tesla Model S vehicle's "Autopilot" system after announcing the death of a driver on Thursday. The system was engaged at the time of the crash, but that is only part of the story.

AP - Full Article

So he has a habit of speeding, has a number of speeding tickets, and may have been watching a DVD at the time of the crash...

Friends described Brown as having a "need for speed," and state records obtained by The Associated Press show he had eight speeding tickets over six years.

Terri Lyn Reed, an insurance agent in northeastern Ohio who insured Brown's business, described her friend as "kind of a daredevil" who loved excitement and speed, and was fearless. A former employee of Brown's, Stan Staneski, said Brown drove fast, but he considered him a safe driver.

But the truck driver in the wreck, Frank Baressi, 62, of Palm Harbor, Florida, recalled Brown driving quickly when the accident occurred: "He went so fast through my trailer I didn't see him."

Baressi also told the AP that Brown was "playing Harry Potter on the TV screen" at the time of the crash. Baressi acknowledged he couldn't see the movie, only heard it.

The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed Friday that it found a portable DVD player in Brown's car after the accident, but agency spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said investigators could not confirm whether it was playing when the vehicles made contact.

Maybe we can change the title of the thread to "Harry Potter DVD Kills First Victim"?

[The Doctor]

AP - Full Article

So he has a habit of speeding, has a number of speeding tickets, and may have been watching a DVD at the time of the crash...



Maybe we can change the title of the thread to "Harry Potter DVD Kills First Victim"?

Did the "self-driving mode" have "a need for speed"?

[T. A. Gardner]

AP - Full Article

So he has a habit of speeding, has a number of speeding tickets, and may have been watching a DVD at the time of the crash...

Meh... Everybody speeds in America. As for watching a DVD... Well, at least he wasn't on his cell phone while eating a hamburger...

Maybe we can change the title of the thread to "Harry Potter DVD Kills First Victim"?

Or, maybe the simpler "Idiot buys $100,000 battery powered toy car..."