Driver died in car accident on autopilot – Journal News

Luis Pedro Carvalho

Today at 15:53, updated at 16:02

the US is investigating what will be the first death aboard an electric vehicle Tesla, with the system on automatic pilot.

Joshua Brown, an American of 40 years, died in an accident on board a Tesla Model S on autopilot when a highway a truck is crossed to its front, but the system has not detected the obstacle.

the American road safety authorities are now investigating the accident, to realize the extent to which the system had a serious flaw or worked as it should the situation , while not preventing the accident. The research was revealed by the brand in a statement that explains the general circumstances of the case.

“What we know is that the vehicle was on a fast track shared with the autopilot on, when a truck crossed the road in perpendicular to the Model S. neither the autopilot or the driver realized the white trailer side with clear sky in the background, so that the brakes were not applied. the high altitude of the combined trailer with its position on the road and extremely rare conditions the impact caused the Model S passed under the trailer, so that the underside of the lorry hits at the windshield “.

Although the mark point out that the autopilot further is an experimental version and the driver must always be prepared to “take control of the vehicle,” the truck driver said Joshua Brown was watching a video when the accident occurred. Brown was a famous fan of Tesla earlier this year, posted a video on YouTube which showed that system to avoid an accident without the intervention of the driver.

This accident may prove to become one of the landmarks in the history of driverless cars, at a time when many brands try to implement assisted driving systems or even driverless vehicles (such as the Alphabet, the Google-parent home, or General Motors), which are be referred to as safer than vehicles controlled by humans.

in the company statement, Tesla recalls that this is the first recorded death in an incident with the automatic system (through multiple sensors controls the direction , engine and brakes), which puts the brand in a ratio of one death per 130 million miles traveled, a better result than the uS average of one death per 94 million miles traveled, for cars with driver.

Tesla, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is one of the best known brands of today with regard to the automobile industry innovations, either with electric high-performance vehicles, both with regard to research in the mobility area without driver.