Oops...self-driving cars perhaps not quite ready for prime time yet.

[Ace-Garageguy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3668916/Former-Navy-SEAL-killed-wheel-Tesla-autopilot-motorist-die-self-driving-car-recorded-near-miss-just-month-earlier.html

Edited July 1, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Jantrix]

I don't like the entire idea. There's just too much weird stuff that goes on while driving to chance it by losing concentration on the road. The nav system might see the cars and stuff just fine, but will it pick up road obstacles, wildlife and so forth? Nope, not me folks. I'll drive myself.

[Joe Handley]

It seems like it should pick up road debris and critter ok, the problem here was that the car doesn't have sensors mounted closer to the roof that would be able to sense high sitting objects like trailers, shelves, lifted trucks, ect.........which should have been seen by the person in the driver's seat, but if he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on infront of the car...............

[Spex84]

I think autonomous cars are a great idea...in a fantasy world where the roads are perfect, it never snows, and people are rational, alert, and responsible.

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It's gonna be carnage.

 

[espo]

Tragic for his family. This does sort of prove that this technology is far from ready to hit the road. That's to bad because the way some people drive in the KC Metro area this could make a dramatic improvement in safety on the roads in this area.

[louie]

The truck driver claims that the car was going so fast that when it plowed through his trailer "he never even saw it ". No thanks, you can have your self driving vehicles I'll stick with my human driving one.  Thanks.     Jeff 

[lysleder]

As far as I'm concerned, I would like to see the automatic transmission outlawed. Yes, it may be convenient but it also allows the driver to be less involved with the task at hand. Driving the car, that is.

[stavanzer]

Mr. Larsen, my rotten right Knee and my now broken right foot, thank you. Please, lets ban the Auto Trans. That will really help, in an age of cell phones, and texting.

 

Thank You for Playing. Try another answer please, as this one is incorrect .

 

Alan

[signguy2108]

Think the cars are scary, google " autonomuos trucks"!! Think about 80,000 lbs coming up in your rearview mirror at a stoplight!!

[Harry P.]

So the Tesla ran into (and under) the trailer at 90 degrees to the truck? If so, how on earth would the truck driver know that the Tesla driver was watching a Harry Potter movie? There's no way the truck driver could have seen the car's screen. And Tesla says it's impossible to watch a movie on the car's screen, anyway.

Something doesn't add up here.

[Roadrunner]

For the most part, I'm very uneasy when anyone other than myself is driving. I'm going to let a car drive me around? Not too likely.

[Joe Handley]

So the Tesla ran into (and under) the trailer at 90 degrees to the truck? If so, how on earth would the truck driver know that the Tesla driver was watching a Harry Potter movie? There's no way the truck driver could have seen the car's screen. And Tesla says it's impossible to watch a movie on the car's screen, anyway.

Something doesn't add up here.

From what I saw on Gizmodo, he had rigged a DVD player into it somehow.  Kinda curious to see how they have the web and other non car related functions of that center screen done.  On the head unit of my 200, it doesn't allow the video from DVD's to be played when in gear, only audio. That said, I have heard that the wiring that controls that runs down to the shifter so that it grounds in a certain  in park and neutral and that if that wire is rerouted to someplace that is always grounded, that will bypass that block and allow video to played in gear, never looked into it in my car, as I'm usually the only one in it and tend not to do what this guy may have done.

[Quick GMC]

for everyone saying these types of cars aren't ready for the road, do a little digging and find out what the crash/mileage ratio is. So far, Tesla's autopilot is doing about 20% better than human drivers per mile. 

Tesla said that the white truck against a bright sky went unnoticed to the car and it wasn't apply the brakes. The automatic emergency braking system is not meant to hit the brakes for things flying across your path like that, it is designed to monitor and detect laterally moving objects in front of you, like someone cutting into your lane. 

also, this is a driver assist feature, not a driver act like a complete retard feature. 

[Quick GMC]

As far as I'm concerned, I would like to see the automatic transmission outlawed. Yes, it may be convenient but it also allows the driver to be less involved with the task at hand. Driving the car, that is.

the manual trans is dying. it won't be long before they aren't even an option anymore

[Quick GMC]

So the Tesla ran into (and under) the trailer at 90 degrees to the truck? If so, how on earth would the truck driver know that the Tesla driver was watching a Harry Potter movie? There's no way the truck driver could have seen the car's screen. And Tesla says it's impossible to watch a movie on the car's screen, anyway.

Something doesn't add up here.

if you read the article, the truck driver says that he could hear the movie still playing after the car crashed into a pole. 

[Harry P.]

if you read the article, the truck driver says that he could hear the movie still playing after the car crashed into a pole. 

The Tesla continued on and ran into a telephone pole a quarter mile away. And the truck driver could hear the movie playing in a car a quarter of a mile away? I doubt it. The trucker's story doesn't add up.

[Tom Geiger]

the manual trans is dying. it won't be long before they aren't even an option anymore

I had a tough time finding a 5 speed back in 1991 when I bought my Geo Tracker.  Entire lots of them and not a clutch in the bunch.  Salesmen would just shrug and say that nobody can drive a clutch anymore. And that was 25 years ago!

During my ownership I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me if they could drive it around the block, only to find out they couldn't drive a clutch.  And these were men in their 30s and 40s.

Now try to find a car with manual windows today!

[Quick GMC]

The Tesla continued on and ran into a telephone pole a quarter mile away. And the truck driver could hear the movie playing in a car a quarter of a mile away? I doubt it. The trucker's story doesn't add up.

I would assume he ran over to see the car after it crashed and see if the driver was okay. I would. It's a pretty plausible explanation 

This article quotes the driver as saying he did not see the movie playing, but heard it. If it was still playing and was close enough to hear it, and had seen the movie before to know what it sounds like, it's really not far fetched. But in the end, all we have to go on at this time is the truck driver's statement, so we'll see when the final reports come out. Maybe the truck driver was on mushrooms and just imagining it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/01/tesla-autopilot-crash-driver-was-watching-harry-potter-movie-wit/

[Xingu]

The Tesla continued on and ran into a telephone pole a quarter mile away. And the truck driver could hear the movie playing in a car a quarter of a mile away? I doubt it. The trucker's story doesn't add up.

Perhaps the truck driver went to check on the Tesla's driver after the accident, at that point it would be pretty easy to hear the movie playing.

[Quick GMC]

 

I had a tough time finding a 5 speed back in 1991 when I bought my Geo Tracker.  Entire lots of them and not a clutch in the bunch.  Salesmen would just shrug and say that nobody can drive a clutch anymore. And that was 25 years ago!

During my ownership I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me if they could drive it around the block, only to find out they couldn't drive a clutch.  And these were men in their 30s and 40s.

Now try to find a car with manual windows today!

I am buying a Challenger Scat Pack when I am ready. I was shooting for this summer, but now it will be next year. I really want a manual, but I am having a hard time deciding. I may go with the paddle shifted auto 8 speed. I don't want straight auto, the paddles give you manual mode, which might be just enough to make me happy

[Harry P.]

I've driven nothing but manual trans cars since 1983 (except for the wife's automatics), and pretty much wouldn't want to go automatic. I like driving, and I like the connection you have with the car when it's a stick.

Except when I'm sitting in heavy traffic. My Mustang's clutch takes quite a bit of effort, and man, your leg can get real tired after 15-20 minutes of crawling in stop and go traffic. Too bad they don't have an "automatic" switch for situations like that!

[Mark]

So far, Tesla's autopilot is doing about 20% better than human drivers per mile. 

 

Too small a sample out there right now...get enough of them on the road to actually matter, and the numbers will zoom upward...

[MrObsessive]

I am buying a Challenger Scat Pack when I am ready. I was shooting for this summer, but now it will be next year. I really want a manual, but I am having a hard time deciding. I may go with the paddle shifted auto 8 speed. I don't want straight auto, the paddles give you manual mode, which might be just enough to make me happy

Mine has the "Manu-matic" shift. I thought I'd never go with an automatic after having standard shift cars for many years, but now I've been spoiled. 

Except when I'm sitting in heavy traffic. My Mustang's clutch takes quite a bit of effort, and man, your leg can get real tired after 15-20 minutes of crawling in stop and go traffic. Too bad they don't have an "automatic" switch for situations like that!

Exactly! I don't have a long drive to work, but it became VERY irritating to let the clutch in and out when traffic is slowed due to an accident or construction. Not to mention as a lot of us here over 50 can vouch for--------the knees and legs don't work as well as they used to 20 years prior.

[martinfan5]

The car is not to blame here, its the idiot that was supposed to be in control of the car,  Tesla has an auto pilot mode, that was designed to be used on highways, but it still requires the driver to be in control of the car. 

[Harry P.]

Not to mention as a lot of us here over 50 can vouch for--------the knees and legs don't work as well as they used to 20 years prior.

Ain't that the truth!