See Detailed article at this link: Fatal AV Crash details
This Tesla which is modified for autonomous driving has an on-board computer which didn’t recognize and/or react to the obstacle in front of it. The automatic braking system again failed. The proliferation of the “UNconnected” Autonomous Vehicle appears to be creating hazards on public streets, based on two recent USA crashes of AVs. The supercomputer coordinated system advocated on this site seems like the better alternative to the proliferation of weaker, unconnected computer controlled cars.
MICHIGAN AUTOMOTIVE NEWS (modified for web posting)
Elon Musk, federal investigators at odds over fatal Tesla crash investigation
Updated 4:55 AM; Posted 4:02 AM 4/3/2018
In this Friday March 23, 2018 photo provided by KTVU, emergency personnel work a the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent two investigators to look into a fatal crash and fire Friday in California that involved a Tesla electric SUV. The agency says on Twitter that it’s not clear whether the Tesla Model X was operating on its semi-autonomous control system called Autopilot at the time. Investigators will study the fire that broke out after the crash.
After the National Transportation Safety Board expressed displeasure with Tesla for releasing information concerning a fatal crash involving a Model X, CEO Elon Musk fired back in defending his company’s decision on Monday, April 2.
The crash itself occurred around 9:27 a.m. March 23 on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, California. A 38-year-old man was killed when the Tesla Model X SUV struck a freeway barrier that was either missing or had a damaged safety shield, the Associated Press reports. Tesla said that this missing barrier contributed to worsening the impact of the crash in a blog post.
Tesla released a statement on March 30 that the vehicle’s autopilot and adaptive cruise control was engaged moments before the fatal collision. The electric car maker reports the driver did not have his hands on the steering wheel for at least six seconds before the crash, and that he was visually and audibly warned several times.
This is the heart of the spat between the car maker and NTSB, as the federal agency told the Washington Post last week it was “unhappy” that Tesla released this information.
“At this time the NTSB needs the assistance of Tesla to decode the data the vehicle recorded,” agency spokesperson Chris O’Neil told the Post Sunday, April 1. “In each of our investigations involving a Tesla vehicle, Tesla has been extremely cooperative on assisting with the vehicle data.
“However, the NTSB is unhappy with the release of investigative information by Tesla.”
Musk responded to this report in the embedded below tweet on Monday afternoon:
Tesla Motors Club@TeslaMotorsClub
NTSB “Unhappy” With Tesla’s Comment on Fatal Model X Crash https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2018/04/02/ntsb-unhappy-with-teslas-comment-on-fatal-model-x-crash/ … #Tesla #ModelX pic.twitter.com/8No3xE8LbI
Lot of respect for NTSB, but NHTSA regulates cars, not NTSB, which is an advisory body. Tesla releases critical crash data affecting public safety immediately & always will. To do otherwise would be unsafe.
A.P. adds that the NTSB sent two of its investigators to look into the crash. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration oversees car regulations in the United States, the NTSB investigates crashes and makes safety recommendations.
“The driver had about five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete divider with the crushed crash attenuator, but the vehicle logs show that no action was taken,” Tesla said in the March 30 statement.
“The reason this crash was so severe is because the crash attenuator, a highway safety barrier which is designed to reduce the impact into a concrete lane divider, had been crushed in a prior accident without being replaced. We have never seen this level of damage to a Model X in any other crash.”