Photo: Drammen Live 24
A Norwegian highway was witness to the latest Tesla Model S accident on Monday evening when a man driving his electric luxury sedan crashed into a road closure barricade.
If you've been tracking the series of traffic incidents involving Tesla cars, then the scenario will appear familiar. The car's systems fail to detect a stationary object on the left side of the highway, and the EV goes plowing straight through with all of its impressive weight.
Only so far, neither the authorities nor Tesla or the witnesses have confirmed whether the vehicle was indeed using the Autopilot function - or, indeed, whether this particular car even has it installed. What has been rumored, however, is that the driver, a 50-year-old man from Vestfold, was busy with his cell phone just before the crash occurred.
But this bit of information doesn't shed any more light on what caused the incident since it can support both versions: on the one hand, him using the smartphone would suggest he wasn't paying too much attention to the road because the car was on Autopilot, but on the other, it could also explain why he didn't notice the barricade in due time if he was the one controlling the vehicle.
Fortunately, nobody was injured in this crash despite the car driving directly into the signs that were indicating the roadworks and the fact that the construction crew was very close by. Norwegian publication Drammen Live 24 reports that debris was scattered on a large radius, even hitting nearby vehicles.
According to the source, the trailers holding the signs were dragged for as much as 80 meters (262 feet) before the car came to a stop, suggesting the Tesla had a pretty high velocity at the time of impact. The driver had his license confiscated on the spot for reckless driving.
If it turns out that the Autopilot had nothing to do with the crash, this will only emerge as yet another proof of the safety provided by Tesla cars to their occupants. However, if it doesn't, then questions will be raised again over the efficiency of Tesla's driving assistance module. And this comes just days after it has transpired that there is a possible fatal accident involving the system that precedes the Joshua Brown incident by five months that happened in China.
Only so far, neither the authorities nor Tesla or the witnesses have confirmed whether the vehicle was indeed using the Autopilot function - or, indeed, whether this particular car even has it installed. What has been rumored, however, is that the driver, a 50-year-old man from Vestfold, was busy with his cell phone just before the crash occurred.
But this bit of information doesn't shed any more light on what caused the incident since it can support both versions: on the one hand, him using the smartphone would suggest he wasn't paying too much attention to the road because the car was on Autopilot, but on the other, it could also explain why he didn't notice the barricade in due time if he was the one controlling the vehicle.
Fortunately, nobody was injured in this crash despite the car driving directly into the signs that were indicating the roadworks and the fact that the construction crew was very close by. Norwegian publication Drammen Live 24 reports that debris was scattered on a large radius, even hitting nearby vehicles.
According to the source, the trailers holding the signs were dragged for as much as 80 meters (262 feet) before the car came to a stop, suggesting the Tesla had a pretty high velocity at the time of impact. The driver had his license confiscated on the spot for reckless driving.
If it turns out that the Autopilot had nothing to do with the crash, this will only emerge as yet another proof of the safety provided by Tesla cars to their occupants. However, if it doesn't, then questions will be raised again over the efficiency of Tesla's driving assistance module. And this comes just days after it has transpired that there is a possible fatal accident involving the system that precedes the Joshua Brown incident by five months that happened in China.
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