• The google car has a completely human vice: it overtakes on the right and crashes into a bus

  • Oliver Stone, Tesla, humanoid robots and the world around advertising

  • There comes a surprise from Tesla, but it won't be a car

Share

01 July 2016

An investigation has been opened into the first fatal accident involving a Tesla Model S car that was using the autopilot autopilot system.

The crash, according to Florida authorities, occurred on May 7, when 40-year-old Joshua Brown was traveling in the car near Williston on a non-busy road. An episode that can only cause controversy and debate on the system and security. NHTSA (the US body that deals with the national safety of highway traffic) has opened a preliminary investigation for a check on the 25 thousand Model S vehicles equipped with Autopilot. This is the first step in issuing an eventual recall order in case it emerges that the vehicles are unsafe. The accident, the agency explains, "requires an examination of the design and performance of any driving aids in use at the time of the crash".



Impact with a truck


According to initial reconstructions, the accident occurred after a vehicle with a trailer turned left right in front of the Tesla near an intersection. Yesterday the manufacturer reported that "neither the Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the trailer" due to the reflection of the light in the sky and "the brake did not activate". The incident resulted in an immediate fall in Tesla's stock on the stock market, with a loss of more than 3%. The company tried to focus on the unusual nature of the crash, pointing out that it is the first fatal episode in more than 130 million miles traveled by cars.



A Tesla car equipped with the system sells for as low as $ 66,000. In a note, the company reiterates that customers are required to give "explicit consent" in which they indicate that they are aware of the fact that Autopilot is a new technology still in development, otherwise the system is not activated.