1800 Car Wreck Explains Reasons Auto Experts Are Worried About Tesla Car Accidents

Dallas, 09/12/2016 /SubmitPressRelease123/

Even With Advancements, Tesla Vehicles In Autopilot Mode Still Susceptible To Accidents

In May of this year, the driver of a Tesla Model S in Florida was involved in a fatal car accident. What is more troubling beyond the tragic death of the motorist, is that the vehicle in question was equipped with autopilot technology that was designed explicitly to lower the chances of a car accident.

Anyone living in the Dallas/Ft. Worth or Houston area, who has driven a vehicle with a self-driving option that they believe malfunctioned and led to a car accident, should contact 1800 Car Wreck to discuss their case with an attorney.

But the death of the Tesla car owner in Florida, which led to a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation, shows that more research may be needed into the self-driving car technology to see how future crashes can be avoided.

Tesla Autopilot Technology

All Tesla vehicles equipped with the Autopilot mode have four standard features:

Radar — The long-range radar system has a range of 525 feet.
Ultrasonic Sensors — There are 12 ultrasonic sensors built around the entire vehicle that emit high-frequencies that can detect objects within a 16-foot range.
GPS — Provides speed limits, maps and current location.
Camera — A forward-facing camera mounted on the rearview mirror that acts as a visual backup to the radar system. Camera is hardwired into the vehicle’s computer system that also includes image-recognition.

Tesla Autopilot Accidents

Williston, Florida — On May 7, 40-year-old Joshua Brown, an Ohio native, died when his 2015 Tesla Model S crashed into an 18-wheeler. The car accident occurred at around 3:40 p.m. on U.S. 27 to the west of Williston.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol report, Brown’s vehicle was traveling eastbound in the outer lane of U.S. 27. The 18-wheeler tractor-trailer driven by 62-year-old Frank Baressi, was headed west on the same highway.

As the truck began making a left turn to join NE 140th Court, the Tesla Model S veered across the divide and run underneath the tractor-trailer.

After sliding all the way under the truck, the Tesla Model S then skidded in an eastward direction, hit the south shoulder of the highway, and crashed through several fences before hitting a power pole.

The vehicle then spun counter-clockwise, and finally came to a stop approximately 100 feet south of the highway.

The entire top of the Tesla was torn off on impact, and Brown was pronounced dead at the accident scene. Baressi, however, was not injured.

In an interview with the Associated Press (AP), Baressi said that he had heard the sound of a Harry Potter film playing on a DVD player in Brown’s car, and implied that Brown’s attention was diverted, because he was watching a movie.

Although a portable DVD player was found in the Tesla Model S wreckage, authorities have not disclosed whether driver distraction was a contributing factor in the car accident.

What is known, however, is that Brown had engaged the Tesla’s Autopilot mode, which should have alerted him to the oncoming truck. Several days after the crash, however, Tesla released a statement on its official blog saying that the sensor system was compromised by the bright light of that day, and could not detect the 18-wheeler as it made its turn.

Tesla’s statement also said that once the vehicles collided, the Autopilot took over and tried to accelerate the vehicle through the obstacle, which is why the car drove underneath the 18-wheel truck. Upon impact, the entire top section of the Tesla Model S was sheared off.

Although this was the first known car crash fatality related to a vehicle in self-driving mode, the NHTSA was prompted to investigate the accident to determine whether driver error or failure of technology was the major factor in the accident. The NHTSA continues to investigate the accident, and has not yet released its findings.

Bedford, Pennsylvania — On July 1, another Tesla car crash occurred on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Bedford exit.

According to a report filed by the Pennsylvania State Police, Albert Scaglione – who was driving – and his son-in-law Tim Yanke, were headed east on the highway in a Tesla Model X, when the vehicle lost control, struck a guardrail on the right shoulder, then careened into a concrete median. The Tesla Model X then rolled over and slid to a stop on its roof in the center of the eastbound lane.

At that point, flying debris from the Tesla’s crash struck a westbound 2013 Infiniti G37, driven by Thomas Hess, a resident of West Chester, Pa. Hess and the passenger in his vehicle managed to avoid injury, but there was no report on the condition of Hess’s vehicle.

Scaglione told a responding police officer that he had engaged the Autopilot mode prior to the car accident, although this statement was not confirmed by Tesla, whose software is designed to receive instant information whenever a Tesla car owner is involved in an accident.

State Police trooper Dale Vukovich, who was one of the responding officers, said that Scaglione would probably be issued a ticket for driver error, but did not specify the exact violation.

In response to Scaglione’s assertion that he had engaged his Tesla Model X’s Autopilot, Tesla issued a statement that read in part, “We have no data to suggest that Autopilot was engaged at the time of the incident. Anytime there is a significant accident, Tesla receives a crash detection alert.”

The statement also said that the company had reached out to Scaglione, but had not received a reply.

To determine whether the Autopilot was engaged, Tesla would need access to the digital systems inside Scaglione’s vehicle. The NHTSA has said it is investigating this car accident.

Reasons Auto Experts Are Worried About Tesla Car Accidents

Although the sample size of Tesla car accidents directly related to possible issues with Autopilot mode is small, car experts are still worried about the implications, and here are some reasons why:

Slows Reaction Time  — The Tesla Autopilot mode is specifically designed to take much of the burden off the driver, and shift it to the sensors and cameras, which may offer a false sense of security to a driver, and slow the reaction time in which the driver can take manual control of the car in the event of a system failure.
Remains a Beta Product — Despite the fact that the Tesla Autopilot mode is in wide use, the technology is still in what the industry terms ‘beta mode,’ which means that the software that controls the sensors and cameras involved in car accident avoidance will still undergo future evolutions to improve performance.

In fact, every time a Tesla owner engages Autopilot, an acknowledgment box appears that reads in part, “The Autopilot is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times,” further adding that the driver should maintain control of the vehicle at all times.

Requires Constant Monitoring — Although self-driving technology is made to work without a driver needing to do anything other than activate it, studies have shown that these systems create a belief in drivers that they should not be actively monitoring the technology at all times. That belief is echoed by James Sayer, project manager of a U.S. Department of Transportation program known as the Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Deployment Program.

“When you provide a level of automation that controls a vehicle,” he said, “the vast majority of time, they [drivers] may get to the point where they are no longer monitoring as well as they should because they’re gaining all of this experience when the system is working properly.”

Legal Action

If the Tesla Autopilot mode is shown to have failed during the fatal Florida crash, the family of Josh Brown may have the grounds for a lawsuit against the car-maker.

An attorney retained by the Brown family said in an AP interview earlier this month that the family was waiting to read the results of the NHTSA investigation before deciding whether to file suit against Tesla.

Tesla is in a unique position among car-makers, because it is self-insured, meaning that a lawsuit with a large jury verdict could mean trouble for the company’s future.

The company acknowledged this fact in an SEC filing in May, just days after the crash that cost Brown his life: “Product liability claims could harm our business and financial condition,” the company statement read.

Tesla does not carry reinsurance coverage, which would limit the amount of money the company would have to pay from its own funds. Despite its recent financial success, Tesla is still considered a ‘start-up,’ not a major car-maker on the level of GM or Toyota.

But for the Brown family, a personal injury lawsuit against Tesla related to product liability may be warranted if the final NHTSA report reveals that the primary factor that caused the accident was a failure or defect in the Autopilot mode.

And beyond the Tesla case, anyone living in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area or in Houston, who has driven a vehicle with a self-driving option that they believe malfunctioned and led to a car accident, should contact a personal injury lawyer to evaluate the situation.

Only a lawyer can determine if a car company bears responsibility for a car accident that caused pain, suffering, medical expenses, and a loss of wages.

Media Contact

Lucy Tiseo

1800 Car Wreck

Phone: 800-779-6665

Email: lucy.tiseo@ewlawyers.com

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source: http://1800carwreck.tv/1800-car-wreck-explains-reasons-auto-experts-worried-tesla-car-accidents.html

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