autoevolution
 

Tesla Model X Driver Uses Autopilot To Drive To Hospital In Medical Emergency

Ever get sick while driving? It must have happened to almost all of us at some point.
2016 Tesla Model X 17 photos
Photo: Tesla
2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model X2016 Tesla Model XBio Weapon Defense GraphModel X in BDM test
In a regular car, a driver that gets sick and cannot continue must pull over, secure the vehicle with the parking brake, and call for help. However, what if the pain one experiences is almost unbearable, and the driver knows that there is a hospital not that far away?

Some drivers might risk taking the trip, while others will take their chances waiting for an ambulance. Joshua Neally, a 37-year-old lawyer, chose something in between, in the form of letting his car drive him to the address of the hospital. Well, sort of.

According to Slate, the 37-year-old attorney was driving from his office in Springfield, Missouri, towards his home in Branson, Missouri. The 45-minute drive appeared uneventful at first, but Neally felt a severe pain in his chest after just five miles into his commute. He managed to call his wife and ask for her opinion on the matter, and she suggested the emergency room.

As he was convinced that the pain would not go away by itself, and since he felt like he had a “steel pole through the chest,” Neally decided to input the address of the nearest hospital in the navigation system and to activate his car’s assisted driving feature.

We almost forgot to mention - Neally drives a Tesla Model X fitted with Autopilot, and he used the system to navigate through 20 miles of highway traffic at suitable speeds, which might have been too much to handle if he had a regular car. The Autopilot system safely drove him off an exit ramp, from where he steered the car manually into the parking lot.

Once parked, the lawyer checked himself into the emergency room with his injuries. Once there, he found out he had suffered a pulmonary embolism, which is a medical term for a potentially deadly obstruction of a blood vessel in his lungs. Doctors told him he was lucky to have survived, but he believes that his car saved his life. He recovered the next day and went home safely.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories