Driver Assist Was Enaged During The Tesla Autopilot Crash, Says NTSB

The Tesla Model 3 crash that killed the car’s owner Jeremy Banner in March had the Auto Pilot engaged, confirms a report from the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB). The Tesla Autopilot crash took place on a highway in Palm Beach, Florida, when a semi-truck appeared in the car’s lane. The semi-truck was trying to cross over to the opposite lane however, the Tesla Auto-pilot failed and caused the crash.

The Tesla Model 3 was seemingly unable to identify the truck and crashed into its backside at 68mph (110km/h). The roof of the car was torn off during the crash, killing the driver, Jeremy Banner, in the process. The NTSB report confirms that neither the driver nor the auto-pilot took any evasive measures to prevent the accident.

NTSB issued preliminary report Thursday for its ongoing investigation of the fatal, March 1, 2019, highway crash near Delray Beach, Florida. The preliminary report is available at; https://t.co/KsUmeOFh2p

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) May 16, 2019

The Auto-pilot in Banner’s car was engaged only 10 seconds before the crash took place. For less than 8 seconds before the Tesla Model 3 crash, the car did not detect banners handed over the steering wheel, according to the report. After the crash, the car continued 1600 feet further.

Tesla Model 3 Crash History

Tesla Autopilot Crash — Image Credit: Arstechnica

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only Auto-pilot related crash that Tesla is involved in. Another victim of the Tesla Auto-pilot was Joshua Brown, who died in May 2016. Brown was driving his Tesla Model S on another highway in Florida when he crashed into another semi-truck at a speed of 74mph (120km/h).

Even here, the Auto-pilot was engaged and was unable to identify the semi-truck which took a left turn in front of the car. Joshua himself didn’t notice the truck coming into his lane which caused the crash to happen.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated the Joshua Brown crash. In their report, they labeled the absence of “Safeguards” as the main cause of the collision.

Another victim of the Tesla Autopilot crash was the Apple Engineer Walter Huang, whose family is currently suing Tesla. According to the family’s lawyers, Tesla is “beta-testing” its self-driving technology over owners’ lives.

The 4th victim who died in a Tesla Auto-pilot related crash was Gao Yaning of China. The victim’s father, Gao Jubin, who had planned to hand over his logistics business to his son, claims that Tesla Auto-pilot was responsible for the crash.

Is Tesla Autonomous Driving Responsible for Crash?

Tesla’s fault in all of these cases is due to misleading marketing. The company offers “Full Self Driving” versions of its cars, despite requiring input from the driver.

Tesla Engineers have created something really good, but the marketing department has failed to convey what the cars are capable of. Tesla Cars are good, they offer great build quality, superb range and have unbeatable performance. However, the mandatory sticker of the supposed Auto-pilot feature is causing Tesla these troubles.

Furthermore, several exaggerated claims from Elon make matters even worse. Be it his tweet claiming that all Tesla cars will require no human intervention in the near future or another one saying how Tesla’s self-driving technology will make the company a $500 billion giant.

Tesla recently raised a good amount of money during its investor call. However, lawsuits like these are not only going to drain the company of its resources but also of its influence, which has caused modern car makers to effectively shift to electric.