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2016 TESLA MODEL S — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

crash · 1471150 · 2018-05-26

Vehicle

Make
TESLA
Model
MODEL S
Year
2016
Manufacturer
Tesla, Inc.
Component
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Miles at failure
34,800
Speed
50 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
Yes

Narrative

THIS SUNDAY MAY 20 I WAS DRIVING MY TESLA MODEL S SOUTHBOUND ON ROUTE 1 IN REHOBOTH TO WORK IN AUTOPILOT MODE. I HAD THIS FEATURE OF MY VEHICLE SET TO 50 MPH. IF YOU AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH AUTOPILOT IN TESLA'S, LET ME EXPLAIN HOW IT WORKS. ONCE THE VEHICLE INDICATES THE FEATURE CAN BE ACTIVATED, YOU PRESS A BUTTON AS YOU WOULD ANY OTHER VEHICLE WITH BASIC CRUISE CONTROL, AND THE CAR WILL LITERALLY ACCELERATE, DECELERATE, AND STEER ITSELF WITHOUT FURTHER INPUT FROM THE DRIVER. WHILE USING THIS FEATURE OF MY VEHICLE, I HAD A SIGNIFICANT ACCIDENT ON ROUTE 1. AS I SAID, MY VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING AT A RATE OF 50 MPH. I WAS DRIVING IN THE LEFT LANE SOUTHBOUND WITH AUTOPILOT ACTIVATED. IN TURNABOUT IN THE MEDIAN, A WHITE PICKUP WAS PERPENDICULAR TO MY CAR WITH STICKING OUT ABOUT 1 FT INTO MY LANE. THE LEFT SIDE OF MY CAR SKIMMED THE BACK OF HIS CAR WITHOUT SLOWING DOWN. AUTOPILOT FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE CAR WAS THERE. I AM LUCKY I WASN'T KILLED, AND I AM LUCKY NO ONE ELSE WAS HURT. THIS ACCIDENT HAS SHAKEN ME UP QUITE A BIT. NOW, I DO NOT BLAME TESLA 100% FOR THIS AUTO ACCIDENT; I DON'T PLAN TO FILE A LEGAL CLAIM AGAINST THEM OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. IN FACT, I PLAN ON REPLACING MY VEHICLE WITH ANOTHER TESLA (WITHOUT THE SAID AUTOPILOT FEATURES) BUT I WOULD BE DOING A DISSERVICE TO ANYONE WITHOUT TRYING TO USE THIS EXPERIENCE OF MINE TO HOPEFULLY SAVE LIVES IN THE FUTURE. I BROUGHT THESE EXACT ISSUES UP WITH TESLA REGARDING MY ACCIDENT SEVERAL TIMES TO SEVERAL DIFFERENT DEP

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11098058
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown