Tesla Car Crash: Are Self-Driving Cars Really the Future?

Just when we had begun to take pride in the giant strides technology has taken with driverless cars becoming a reality, we have been jolted rather forcefully of its dangers after a self-driven Tesla car encountered a crash that resulted in a tragic death. 

The incident took place in Florida, USA, in which Joshua Brown, a 40-year-old man was cruising on the highway in a Tesla Model S on its semi-autonomous Autopilot mode. A tractor trailer was pulling across the highway and neither the car’s sensors nor the person driving was able to spot the incoming vehicle. The Tesla rammed into the high side of the trailer as it went straight to the windshield of the car. 

The incident, however, had taken place in May this year but the report was officially made public recently by Tesla and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) post an investigation.  Here are some excerpts from the statement shared by Tesla which is titled ‘A tragic loss’. 

The statement read, ‘We learned yesterday evening that NHTSA is opening a preliminary evaluation into the performance of Autopilot during a recent fatal crash that occurred in a Model S. This is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated. Among all vehicles in the US, there is a fatality every 94 million miles. It is important to note that Tesla disables Autopilot by default and requires explicit acknowledgement that the system is new technology and still in a public beta phase before it can be enabled. When drivers activate Autopilot, the acknowledgment box explains, among other things, that Autopilot “is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times,” and that “you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle” while using it.’

Now, we do agree that what has happened is something rare and unfortunate but it shows that despite relying heavily on technology we are still not capable enough to program and predict every outcome. This innovation in cars, which is supposed to be ‘the next big thing’, is something that a lot of modern-day car manufacturers are going gaga over. But the Tesla crash has proven that auto-pilot is far from perfect and still requires intensive driver involvement. Tesla’s reputation has taken a beating for sure but it has also cast doubts on the safety of autonomous cars. 

But does this mean that we should dump self-driving cars altogether? The technology is still nascent so it would be premature to lose faith and give up on autonomous cars altogether. It’s sad that a life had to be lost but if anything, the Tesla crash serves as a wake-up call, and will probably lead carmakers to build in enhanced safety features that can deal with emergency situations as was faced by Joshua Brown. Do share know your thoughts about self-driving cars in comments.