Tesla Driver Killed in Crash While Driving on Autopilot Mode

If you’ve never watched the video before, here it is:

Although you may be hyped up on what the future of the automotive industry may look like, you must never completely put your trust or life at stake in the hands of a machine or a computer system. Tesla recentlydisclosed its first ever fatality while driving the Model S electric car on autopilot mode.

The Tesla Model S (Image: Tesla) "This is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles (209 million kilometers) where Autopilot was activated," the company said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a probe on the incident to evaluate whether the autopilot system was to be blamed for the crash. Tesla has also acknowledged that there might be a possibility that the accident happened probably due to a computer system faulty.

The crash occurred on May 7 in Williston, Florida, when the driver, Joshua Brown was driving on autopilot mode and hit the side of a tractor trailer that was crossing the road to make a turn.

The late Joshua Brown (Image: Facebook) "Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor-trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied," the statement said.

"The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer, with the bottom of the trailer impacting the windshield of the Model S."

According to an early police report, the top off the vehicle was torn off by the force of the collision. After the car had passed under the trailer, it veered off the road and then crashed through two fences and into a power pole. Brown died on the scene.

"Had the Model S impacted the front or rear of the trailer, even at high speed, its advanced crash safety system would likely have prevented serious injury as it has in numerous other similar incidents," Tesla said.

Image: Florida Highway Patrol Tesla ended their statement by offering condolences and deepest sympathies to the deceased family and adding that Brown was “a friend to Tesla and the broader EV community, a person who spent his life focused on innovation and the promise of technology and who believed strongly in Tesla’s mission”.

Ironically, Brown cheated death with the very same car before; he uploaded a video of him driving the car on autopilot mode which helped avoid a side collision with a lift truck. The video was also shared by Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk on his twitter account in April. The video has garnered over 1.7 million views at the time of posting.