Photo: Twitter/KHOU
Elon Musk is protective of Tesla, understandably so. He is also particularly defensive when it comes to claims that Autopilot is in any way misleading or endangering drivers and passengers by luring them into a false sense of security.
The other day, another Tesla crash was blamed on Autopilot by authorities. Technically, it was blamed on Autopilot misuse: two men in a 2019 Tesla Model S crashed into a tree in a residential area in Spring, Texas, after missing a turn and traveling at a high rate of speed. The car burst into flames upon impact and burned for four hours, killing both occupants.
According to the police, there was no one in the driver’s seat when the crash occurred. One man was in the passenger seat, and the owner of the car was in the backseat. After the crash, constable Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 told the media that investigators were “very confident” there was no one at the wheel.
In a new statement, he tells Reuters that a witness confirmed the two men drove off with the intent of testing the “self-driving” capabilities of the vehicle. When they left, the driver had already slipped out from the driver’s seat.
That is impossible, Elon Musk says on Twitter. Autopilot did not cause the crash because Tesla logs show Autopilot wasn’t even enabled at the time. Moreover, it would have been impossible to enable it and then slip out of the driver’s seat due to a series of conditions, including lane markings (which were missing on this residential road) and the fact that this was a residential area.
Tesla has safeguards that disable Autopilot if they’re not met, like hand pressure on the wheel every 10 seconds, a buckled seatbelt, and a body’s weight detected in the driver’s seat. That said, drivers looking for a dangerous thrill have found ways around them in the past.
Constable Herman says Musk’s tweet is the first time the police hear back from Tesla regarding the crash. “We will eagerly wait for that data,” he tells Reuters. But he stands by the initial statement regarding how there was no one at the wheel of the Tesla that slammed into the tree and then burst into flames, killing the two occupants.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also launched an investigation into the accident.
According to the police, there was no one in the driver’s seat when the crash occurred. One man was in the passenger seat, and the owner of the car was in the backseat. After the crash, constable Mark Herman of Harris County Precinct 4 told the media that investigators were “very confident” there was no one at the wheel.
In a new statement, he tells Reuters that a witness confirmed the two men drove off with the intent of testing the “self-driving” capabilities of the vehicle. When they left, the driver had already slipped out from the driver’s seat.
That is impossible, Elon Musk says on Twitter. Autopilot did not cause the crash because Tesla logs show Autopilot wasn’t even enabled at the time. Moreover, it would have been impossible to enable it and then slip out of the driver’s seat due to a series of conditions, including lane markings (which were missing on this residential road) and the fact that this was a residential area.
Tesla has safeguards that disable Autopilot if they’re not met, like hand pressure on the wheel every 10 seconds, a buckled seatbelt, and a body’s weight detected in the driver’s seat. That said, drivers looking for a dangerous thrill have found ways around them in the past.
Constable Herman says Musk’s tweet is the first time the police hear back from Tesla regarding the crash. “We will eagerly wait for that data,” he tells Reuters. But he stands by the initial statement regarding how there was no one at the wheel of the Tesla that slammed into the tree and then burst into flames, killing the two occupants.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also launched an investigation into the accident.
Your research as a private individual is better than professionals @WSJ!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2021
Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD.
Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.
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