Accidents happen and what happened in Springs, Texas on April 6, 2021 was brutal and unfortunate. Two friends, ages 59 and 69, were leaving the home of the owner of a Tesla Model S, with him determined to demonstrate the abilities of his new car. The trip could not be shorter. Less than two hundred meters later, they left the road and collided with a tree that not only killed both of them, but also started a fire that would eventually consume the vehicle completely. Suspicions quickly arose that Autopilot could be responsible for the accident, even hinting that the blame could lie with Full Self Driving (FSD, the most evolved version of Autopilot). After almost two years of investigations by the US entity that investigates the most serious accidents or with human losses, the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA), the causes of the accident were finally determined.
According to authorities, the victims boarded the Tesla at 11:25 p.m., leaving their wives behind at the home where they had dinner. After a few seconds, they were dead and the car destroyed. Suspicions about the Autopilot arose mainly because, according to the initial conclusions of the police, there was no one behind the wheel.since the passenger was in the side seat, so that the driver sat in the back seat.
What we already know about the deadly Tesla accident where no one was behind the wheel
Although accidents involving Tesla models always cause a stir, with some defending the manufacturer and others attacking him, the reality is that the North American manufacturer is the one who most constantly records everything that happens on board, including the images collected by the cameras. . Being able to compile this information and give it to the authorities to reach conclusions. In this case, NHTSA concluded that it was not the autopilot’s fault, but the driver’s, who had had too much alcohol at dinner along with two antihistamine sedative pills.
NHTSA further concluded that the autopilot was never on on this short trip, having even proven during the tests that it carried out that it could not be activated on that street of the condominium due to the characteristics of the road, also emphasizing that the FSD could not be to blame for the screening either, since the client never arrived to buy it. Additionally, NHTSA found that the initial conclusions of the police did not correspond to the truth, since the driver was behind the wheel at the time of the accidentbeing responsible for the Model S traveling at 67 mph (about 108 km/h) in a residential area where the top speed is 30 mph (48 km/h).
Source: Observadora
