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    Innovation Village | Technology, Product Reviews, Business
    You are at:Home»Artificial Intelligence»Police Demand Tesla Crash Data as Musk Denies Autopilot use

    Police Demand Tesla Crash Data as Musk Denies Autopilot use

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    By Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi on April 20, 2021 Artificial Intelligence, Automobiles, Electric Cars, News, Transportation

    Following the tragic death of two men who died on Saturday night north of Houston after a 2019 Model S crashed into a tree and ignited, the Texas police undertaking the investigations will serve search warrants on Tesla on Tuesday to secure data from a fatal vehicle crash, a senior officer told Reuters on Monday, after CEO Elon Musk said company checks showed the car’s Autopilot driver assistance system was not engaged.

    Two Men Confirmed Dead As Tesla’s Autopilot Continues To Face Scrutiny

    Mark Herman, Harris County Constable Precinct 4, said evidence including witness statements clearly indicated there was nobody in the driver’s seat of the Model S when it crashed into a tree, killing two people, on Saturday night. “Our preliminary investigation is determining—but it’s not complete yet—that there was no one at the wheel of that vehicle,” the constable said. “We’re almost 99.9% sure.”

    Herman said a tweet by Musk on Monday afternoon, saying that data logs retrieved by the company so far ruled out the use of the Autopilot system, was the first officials had heard from the company. Herman told Reuters, “if he is tweeting that out, if he has already pulled the data, he hasn’t told us that. We will eagerly wait for that data.”

    https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1383548841438236674

    U.S. stocks closed lower, slipping from last week’s record levels, as investors awaited guidance from first-quarter earnings to justify high valuations, while Tesla shares fell after a fatal car crash https://t.co/GrBZn8yl01 $TSLA pic.twitter.com/VKGuLzswgZ

    — Reuters (@Reuters) April 20, 2021

    The crash is the 28th Telsa accident to be investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which regulates vehicle safety. It is also being probed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which removed Tesla as a party to an earlier investigation into a fatal crash in 2018 after the company made public details of the probe without authorization.

    In Saturday’s accident, the 2019 Tesla Model S was traveling at high speed near Houston when it failed to negotiate a curve and went off the road, crashing into a tree and bursting into flames, Herman said. Authorities found the bodies of two men in the car, one in the front passenger seat and the owner of the car in the backseat. “We have witness statements from people that said they left to test drive the vehicle without a driver and to show the friend how it can drive itself,” Herman said.

    Tesla’s Autopilot is a driver assistance system that handles some driving tasks and allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel at times, but Tesla says its features “require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” In his tweet, Musk rejected the idea that the vehicle’s semi-automated driving software was to blame: “Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD,” in a reference to Full Self-Driving, Tesla’s separate beta semi-automated driver assistance system that still requires driver supervision.

    Your research as a private individual is better than professionals @WSJ!

    Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD.

    Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.

    — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2021

    Musk added that “standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have,” referring to road markers that need to be captured by a vehicle’s cameras to enable autopilot. Tesla has access to operational and diagnostic data delivered to its servers at “regular intervals” from the car, which has been impounded by police. It is unclear whether investigators will be able to retrieve data directly from the event data recorder in the severely burned vehicle.

    Just hours before the crash, Musk had tweeted: “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle.”

    • The remains of a Tesla vehicle are seen after it crashed in The Woodlands, Texas, April 17, 2021

    ‘Shouldn’t be a death risk’

    Tesla’s Autopilot system, which was operating in at least three Tesla vehicles involved in fatal U.S. crashes since 2016, has come under increasing scrutiny. NHTSA told Reuters last month it had opened 27 special investigations into crashes of Tesla vehicles, 23 of which remain active, in crashes believed to have been tied to Autopilot use. Tesla’s shares closed down 3.4% Monday before picking up 1.5% in after hours trading following Musk’s tweet.

    Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, wrote on Twitter that “using Tesla’s driverless system — or any other — shouldn’t be a death risk. Advancements in driving technology must first & foremost be safe.”

    Using Tesla’s driverless system—or any other—shouldn’t be a death risk. Advancements in driving technology must first & foremost be safe. A NHTSA investigation, along with comprehensive oversight, is paramount to prevent future semi-automated driving deaths. https://t.co/Kc0G5twfxV

    — Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) April 19, 2021

    The NTSB, which makes safety recommendations but cannot compel recalls, said its investigation into the Texas crash would focus “on the vehicle’s operation and the post-crash fire.” Fire officials said it took four hours to completely extinguish the fire because of the car’s lithium-ion battery.

    Related

    Accident Autopilot Driver Assistance System CEO Elon Musk Crash Data Electric Cars Investigation Tesla Inc. Tesla Model S Texas Police Transportation
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    Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi
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    Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi has been covering blockchain technology, intelligent technologies, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, telecommunications technology, sustainability, autonomous vehicles, and other topics for Innovation Village since 2017. In the years since, he has published over 4,000 articles — a mix of breaking news, reviews, helpful how-tos, industry analysis, and more. | Open DM on Twitter @TapiwaMutisi

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