Photo: WMBF News
After what seemed like a quieter period, it looks like Tesla drivers have once again begun crashing their electric cars in spectacular fashion.
Earlier today you could read about a Model 3 smashing into a truck that was resting on its side in the middle of a highway in Taiwan. The EV was running on Autopilot, and it's this combination of Tesla's driving aid system, a truck, and a highway that brings up terrible memories of Joshua Brown's untimely death back in 2016.
In this case, the driver - a 53-year-old man - was able to walk away from the crash without any serious injuries, but the incident does raise alarm bells over the dangerous way in which people abuse the system, giving it more credit than they should.
Recently, we showed you a clip of a Model 3 running on Autopilot that ended up on the wrong side of the road after failing to properly negotiate a seemingly simple junction. It's easy to imagine numerous other instances in which it could misbehave and put the occupants in danger provided the driver didn't pay attention to the road.
What's so striking about the Taiwan crash is the similarities with the Joshua Brown case. Then too the Autopilot failed to detect a white truck against the bright sky, only that time the vehicle went under the flatbed of the semi slashing the top of the car clean off in the absence of guard rails. The Taiwanese driver was a lot luckier, but what it shows is that four years later, the problem that led to Joshua Brown's death has not been dealt with by Tesla.
Back in the United States, another Model 3 decided to bury its head into something, only this time it chose a shopping center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. WMBF reports the driver was luckily able to walk away from the crash, even though he did have to climb out through the back as the front doors were jammed against the edge of the hole dug into the wall. Nobody else was injured.
Alas, Autopilot played no role here. No, this one falls into the other category of Tesla crashes: people mistaking one pedal for the other during parking maneuvers. And we all know what a heavy foot on the accelerator pedal of a Tesla can do, right? We're just not used to the situation where there's a brick wall in front of the vehicle, as drag strips usually tend to steer clear of such obstacles on the track.
In this case, the driver - a 53-year-old man - was able to walk away from the crash without any serious injuries, but the incident does raise alarm bells over the dangerous way in which people abuse the system, giving it more credit than they should.
Recently, we showed you a clip of a Model 3 running on Autopilot that ended up on the wrong side of the road after failing to properly negotiate a seemingly simple junction. It's easy to imagine numerous other instances in which it could misbehave and put the occupants in danger provided the driver didn't pay attention to the road.
What's so striking about the Taiwan crash is the similarities with the Joshua Brown case. Then too the Autopilot failed to detect a white truck against the bright sky, only that time the vehicle went under the flatbed of the semi slashing the top of the car clean off in the absence of guard rails. The Taiwanese driver was a lot luckier, but what it shows is that four years later, the problem that led to Joshua Brown's death has not been dealt with by Tesla.
Back in the United States, another Model 3 decided to bury its head into something, only this time it chose a shopping center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. WMBF reports the driver was luckily able to walk away from the crash, even though he did have to climb out through the back as the front doors were jammed against the edge of the hole dug into the wall. Nobody else was injured.
Alas, Autopilot played no role here. No, this one falls into the other category of Tesla crashes: people mistaking one pedal for the other during parking maneuvers. And we all know what a heavy foot on the accelerator pedal of a Tesla can do, right? We're just not used to the situation where there's a brick wall in front of the vehicle, as drag strips usually tend to steer clear of such obstacles on the track.
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