Tesla is once again in the hot seat following a fatal Autopilot crash incident that claimed the life of 38-year-old Walter Huang in California. Apparently, the Model X was engaged in Autopilot mode but the driver’s hands were not detected on the steering wheel for six seconds prior to the collision.
Now, ABC7 I-Team has obtained exclusive information about a different non-fatal Tesla crash in September 2017, which the driver – who refuses to be identified – says has similarities to Huang’s crash. Apparently, his Model S, which was on Autopilot at the time, slammed into the divider after the low sun got in his eyes.
Unlike the crash that killed Huang, the safety barrier was in working order, and the driver walked away uninjured. Jim McPherson of SafeSelfDrive told ABC7 News reporter Dan Noyes that “the low sun angle could also pose a problem for the cameras that Tesla uses to drive.” McPherson even pointed out some similarities between the September crash and Huang’s tragic accident.
“Both Teslas had low morning sun, both traveling at highway speeds, both on Autopilot, and both may have become confused by the road markings,” read the report. “You have a difference in the pavement colour. You have white lines that Autopilot usually uses to centre itself within the lane,” said McPherson.
In fact, Shantanu Joshi – another Tesla owner – who uses the same route as Huang recorded a video by the accident scene and said “the car definitely swerves (in Autopilot mode). It starts swerving left without giving me any warnings right into that divider.” Joshi immediately assumed control of the vehicle and manoeuvred out of harm’s way.
What’s more, a general contractor from Chicago told ABC7 I-Team the Autopilot on his Model X often has problems at the same location on his commute, so he too recorded a video, showing the exact same chain of events – the Autopilot appears to take him straight into a barrier, but he braked in time to avoid a crash.
However, despite the evidences that point out the Autopilot’s flaw, there is one big difference in the crashes – the safety barrier Huang hit had been collapsed by a previous crash eleven days prior. “Huang basically hit a wall and died, and this other driver who hit the working smart cushion walked away,” read the report.
A Tesla spokeswoman told the publication that “Autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver,” and that it “does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur.”
A peek into the Model X owner’s manual reveals that the Autopilot is a “Beta feature” and to “never depend on Autosteer to determine an appropriate driving path. Always be prepared to take immediate action. Failure to follow these instructions could cause damage, serious injury or death.” Tesla also said that Autopilot is merely a driver assistance system that still requires you to pay attention to the road at all times.
UC Berkeley Research Professor Steven Shladover, who is considered a pioneer in self-driving technology, said “drivers try to do other things while they’re driving and not paying attention and those are situations in which they get in trouble.” Shladover also said Tesla should take a cue from GM’s Smart Cruise system that aims cameras at the driver.
“People should be realistic about the limitations of these self-driving systems at this point in time. We have to recognise that we’ve got to crawl before we walk. We got to walk before we run and we’re still at the crawling stage with this technology,” explained Shladover.
Tesla’s Autopilot system, despite its name, is still a Level 2 self-driving system. However, the name and the way it has been marketed may have influenced how owners use the feature, in some cases relying more on it than actually driving themselves. In essence, a Level 2 autonomous driving car still requires the driver to pay attention with hands on the steering wheel. It’s not a self-drive system but a driving assist system.
The death of a Huang is the third involving the Autopilot system, with other cases being Gao Yaning in China and Joshua Brown in Florida. In both cases, the drivers’ Model S had their systems engaged at the time. Huang’s family has already hired an attorney.
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How they blame the sun. Nextime blame the moon, then blame the star. What else? It took someone life. Should just make and call in semi-auto pilot, not auto-pilot.
Ur tech is immatured, booooo.
Agreed..auto-pilot introduced in planes were full of instrumental gauges to determine whether the system working well enough to fly without pilots help..while the Teslas have large ‘tv’ in the middle of the car to tell driver about set ups of the car and not the condition itself while on auto-pilot
says the all knowing armchair expert with 0 involvement and 0 1st hand knowledge of said incident and technology.
Rarely i disagree with u, but on this i will. Tesla system still very immature and not ready for public roads. Ever Tesla admits all their owners r test drivers which shudnt be the case. Much like Ubers one, its just not ready. Need more R&D and testing.
all good
Tesla Autopilot is low tech compared to the best in the industry such as Waymo. Autopilot doesn’t even utilise lidar which has much better detection ability. Tesla pushes out Level 2 system into the public and hyped it up as if it’s Level 3, bad things are bound to happen.
Like i said before, should just ban autopilot system in cars. We r not driving in clear sky where less obstacle up thr. People r driving on the road wif alot of obstacles, concrete beam n metal fence, cars around, people around, animal around. Once this system goes wrong then susah lor. It still a human creation where error always there. Now u blame the sun for ur own lauya autopilot system.
100% agree, Tesla auto pilot not 100% mature yet.
Wah tesla car also need polarized sunglasses
And they wanted to come out with driverless trucks. Bah! Imagine the carnage it will cause when hauling 40ft trailers.
lmao, sun can’t defend itself…ei..i tho the autopilot is so advanced?
Planes has auto pilot too and yet it’s not fully auto and would crash if unattended. Blame for human error. The is no fool proof technologies and it takes time to improve. Even the top smartphone goes bonkers at time and people accept it since nobody dies from it. Tesla’s Autopilot term is indeed wrong and I have to agree with that. Auto-Assist should be proper. I do like Tesla cars!
let’s just give credit to Tesla’s marketing. seems like alot of buy-ins to Tesla Autopilot when the article (and many other sources online) clearly states it is a level-2 autonomy system.
Let me get this straight.This Tesla uses Level 2 autopilot right?So it still needs driver’s attention,both hands on wheel.I thought this technology existed already.It’s called Cruise Control and more advanced version is Adaptive Cruise Control.So is this Cruise Control can be called Level 1?
Imho, I guess this autopilot thing is still in its infancy.It may take another few years to be fully fault free.
The day when cars can drive on its own without any driver,you know you just enter the back seat and key in your destination and the car just drives itself.That is when I call them true self driving cars.
In the meantime I just enjoy driving my own car.
Even when the plane is flying in full autopilot, the pilots have to be there and vigilant to take over at any given time. It’s not very smart to assume we can just sit there and chit chat like in the movie irobot. Tesla should not market their cars as “autopilot”, which is misleading and makes people think they can depend fully on it. It’s merely an upgrade of standard cruise control.
Exactly.In the air,there are no obstacles unless the plane loses altitude and hit a mountain or dive into the ocean which unlike on the street we have so many obstacles and unpredictable situations.
I think it’s a marketing gimmick for the moment at least.
they found the reason after the accident. wonder how many more shortcomings will they find thru accidents. the passengers are the guinea pigs
Totally agreed. Not to mention for the increasing of mental people on the road nowadays.
Auto pilot system for automobiles are totally crap.