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A Tragic Loss

teslamotors.com

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Re: A Tragic Loss

#61

Post by jblow »

Analemma_ wrote: post #40
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #21

I mean I understand Tesla has to make a statement here and I understand they want to ensure everyone that it's not really their fault but to title a post "A Tragic Loss" and then spend the majority of the post discussing all of your car's safety features and how it wasn't your fault just seems tone deaf and distasteful to me. Maybe they had to do it for legal reasons I don't know (I'm certainly not a lawyer) and I'd…

I agree. I'm starting to get really weirded out by Tesla's immediate "not our fault!" blog posts every time a Tesla is involved in any kind of accident. I could see the necessity the first few times back when it was new technology to a lot of people (and Top Gear had it in for them), but with it happening over and over it seems whiny and a bit callous. How long to they plan to keep doing this?

It is because, if Tesla allows it to happen, the media will attack them incessantly over these things because they smell a story (and because a lot of vested interests are willing to pay for PR). If you don't defend yourself in that kind of situation, you die.

Re: A Tragic Loss

#62

Post by krschultz »

vkou wrote: post #42

Is this the new motto for autonomous vehicles? Move fast and break bones? With these minor bugs, Tesla seems to be doing a solid job of poisoning the well for self-driving cars. I'd like to see them explain how their competitors should not be tarred with the same brush, once the political backlash hits. It doesn't matter how many disclaimers you give before you turn on autopilot - a driver who focused on driving the…

I'm personally very worried about the poisoning the well angle. Tesla is playing fast and loose with this compared to Google and the results could strangle the whole field.

Re: A Tragic Loss

#64

Post by diamondlovesyou »

Pxtl wrote: post #13
simonsarris wrote: post #2

> What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. Tragic no doubt, but I'm relieved that this was not a "Autopilot did something very very wrong" story. Autopilot has the p…

That doesn't sound like what happened. "The driver didn't notice" well, that's why they're using autopilot. No matter how many messages people throw at users, any autopilot that doesn't detect that the driver is awake and operating the vehicle is going to be used by sleeping or otherwise unattentive drivers. It's just human nature. So what likely happened was the driver was screwing around and the autopilot completel…

I'd say most accidents are the result of the driver "not noticing", especially in the current majority of cars which lack autopilot, so even if this edge case exists in the future, having an autopilot is still an improvement.

Re: A Tragic Loss

#66

Post by mikeash »

gjulianm wrote: post #20
Pxtl wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't sound like what happened. "The driver didn't notice" well, that's why they're using autopilot. No matter how many messages people throw at users, any autopilot that doesn't detect that the driver is awake and operating the vehicle is going to be used by sleeping or otherwise unattentive drivers. It's just human nature. So what likely happened was the driver was screwing around and the autopilot completel…

From the article, it seems that this autopilot checks that the driver is attentive. > When drivers activate Autopilot, the acknowledgment box explains, among other things, that Autopilot “is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times," and that "you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle” while using it. Additionally, every time that Autopilot is en…

Those "frequent checks" are pretty rare. I've gone 15-20 minutes without seeing one. For a while it was every 3-5 minutes, but they've dialed it back up in newer software updates.

Re: A Tragic Loss

#67

Post by nomercy400 »

georgecmu wrote: post #25
simonsarris wrote: post #2

> What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. Tragic no doubt, but I'm relieved that this was not a "Autopilot did something very very wrong" story. Autopilot has the p…

Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. How is this not an "Autopilot did something very very wrong" story? Tesla autopilot drove the vehicle full-speed into a tractor-trailer, which wasn't registered by its sensor systems. It'…

How do tractor trailers drive perpendicular on a highway in a probable case?

Still, I agree it is strange that a white/glossy object cannot be detected with radar. Is it a stealth truck?

Re: A Tragic Loss

#68

Post by simonsarris »

georgecmu wrote: post #25
simonsarris wrote: post #2

> What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. Tragic no doubt, but I'm relieved that this was not a "Autopilot did something very very wrong" story. Autopilot has the p…

Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied. How is this not an "Autopilot did something very very wrong" story? Tesla autopilot drove the vehicle full-speed into a tractor-trailer, which wasn't registered by its sensor systems. It'…

Where I live some highways have a sign that says:

> CAUTION: SOLAR GLARE IN THE A.M.

It's serious enough to warrant its own road sign, but its not as much of a realistic issue on a divided highway, so maybe this road didn't have such a sign.

This type of danger is probably what the article is describing.

Re: A Tragic Loss

#69

Post by mikeash »

gohrt wrote: post #60
gjulianm wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article, it seems that this autopilot checks that the driver is attentive. > When drivers activate Autopilot, the acknowledgment box explains, among other things, that Autopilot “is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times," and that "you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle” while using it. Additionally, every time that Autopilot is en…

What if you get into a collision while you are reading all the text in that acknowledgement box?

I don't think the setting can be changed unless the car is in Park.

Re: A Tragic Loss

#70

Post by [deleted] »

petercooper wrote: post #16

Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, I'm intrigued that the color is relevant in the car's case - wouldn't it be using some sort of radar to detect and map objects rather than vision? I appreciate I am probably missing something.

[deleted]
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