Another Autopilot Crash For Tesla Motors As U.S. Investigates

Autopilot Self-Driving System Results in Another Car Accident

The days when flying cars are available to the average Jane may still be far away.  Even though several models of real flying cars do exist, including the first street legal aircraft in the world by Terrafugia, these vehicles are highly experimental and prohibitively expensive.  Plus, you still need to be a pilot…

Road-bound vehicles with autopilot, however – the first of their kind now sold by Tesla Motors – may make it more tangible for some of us to fulfill hi-tech car dreams during this lifetime.

Autopilot is designed to help drivers change lanes, maintain safe speeds and distances, and allows cars to park themselves.  But as well thought out and regulated as autopilot features may be, there are always risks that accompany technology that rides the cutting-edge.  Tesla Motors is now dealing with the effects of those risks – including the death of Model S owner Joshua Brown in Florida just May of this year when his Model S collided with a tractor trailer while Autopilot was engaged.  [Read more about car accidents involving tractor trailers.]

According to Tesla Motors’ press release about the incident:

“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 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…”

The month before he was killed, someone appearing to be Brown posted a video online praising his Tesla’s automatic safety features.  

U.S. authorities quickly opened an investigation after the fatal car accident in what has become the first death attributed to self-driving technology in the world.  Since the investigation began, two other Tesla car crashes are being blamed on Autopilot by the drivers – the first one in Montana in July and another on August 2nd in China.  Neither car accident resulted in any personal injuries.

No matter what you drive, car and truck accidents continue to be one of the leading causes of injury and death in the United States.  The experienced and award-winning attorneys at Pribanic & Pribanic have dedicated staff available to discuss any vehicle accident that has injured you or a loved one.

For a free consultation, call our Pittsburgh-based lawyers at 412-672-5444 or toll-free 800-392-4529.