√Drunk driver of semi-autonomous Tesla crashed into police car after 150 warnings

The drunk driver of a Tesla Model X – being operated in its so-called ‘Autopilot’ semi-autonomous driving mode – received 150 warnings to put their hands back on the steering wheel before crashing into a police car, injuring six people.

Footage from a Tesla which crashed into five US police officers – while operating in its semi-autonomous driving mode – is expected to serve as evidence in the latest landmark case about a driver’s responsibility while behind the steering wheel of so-called ‘self-driving cars’.

Respected US publication Wall Street Journal recently uploaded a video to YouTube which investigated the cause of a February 2021 crash, allegedly caused by a Tesla being operated in its semi-autonomous driving mode – marketed by the electric-car giant as ‘Autopilot’.

Launched in 2015, ‘Autopilot’ is similar to a number of other semi-autonomous systems offered by car makers, providing ‘Level 2’ autonomous capabilities such as adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance.

The crash occurred on 27 February 2021, when a Tesla Model X reportedly hit a police car which was parked on a freeway in Montgomery County, Texas – despite being preceded by a handful of other police and recovery vehicles with their emergency lights activated.

According to the Tesla’s on-board data, it hit the back of the police vehicle at 87km/h (54mph), pushing it forwards into another vehicle and resulting in injuries to five police officers as well as the motorist they had pulled over.

All six were later taken to hospital and treated for their injuries – while the five police officers have subsequently filed a lawsuit against Tesla to receive compensation for their injuries.

At present, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating 16 crashes involving Tesla’s semi-autonomous vehicles and emergency vehicles – six of which occurred when the parked vehicle’s emergency lights were flashing.

Despite marketing its semi-autonomous driving system as ‘Autopilot’ – potentially giving drivers a false sense of the car’s ability to drive itself – Tesla has denied responsibility for the Texas crash, placing full blame on the reportedly intoxicated driver behind the steering wheel.

According to the Wall Street Journal’s investigation, the driver of the Tesla Model X was notified to put their hands back on the car’s steering wheel – a requirement to operate the semi-autonomous driving system – 150 times in the 34 minutes prior to the crash.

While one of these alerts occurred in the seconds preceding the crash, the driver nor the electric car did not do anything to avoid the impending collision with the police vehicle.

The investigation of the Tesla’s on-board data also discovered the semi-autonomous driving system – which gathers information from the road around it through both radars and cameras – recognised the stopped police vehicle just 2.5 seconds before impact.

Though the system reportedly made a brief attempt at slowing down the car, it disengaged entirely mere moments before the impact – something which has previously been reported in similar situations.

It is not yet known when the lawsuit filed by the injured police officers against Tesla will be heard in a US court, though – if Tesla is found to be responsible – it will prove to be a landmark case in the development of semi-autonomous driving technology.

As previously reported, Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving technology has been attributed to at least 17 fatalities in the US since 2019 – with 11 of those deaths occurring in a 12-month period between 2021 and 2022.

Of the 916 car crashes in the US which have involved semi-autonomous cars between 2019 and mid-April 2023, 754 incidents – or 82 per cent of the total – were attributed to Tesla vehicles.

Last month, the driver of a Tesla which killed two motorists after running a red light – while being operated in its so-called ‘Autopilot’ mode – was sentenced to house arrest and community service but avoided jail time.

The landmark legal case demonstrated drivers of semi-autonomous cars are still responsible for their vehicles even when in semi-autonomous driving modes that utilise systems such as radar cruise control and lane-keeping assistance.

Kevin George Aziz Riad became the first reported driver of a semi-autonomous car to be charged for their role in a fatal crash after his Tesla Model S sedan – operating in its ‘Autopilot’ semi-autonomous mode – it exited a freeway and ran a red light in south-east Los Angeles.

The Tesla crashed into a stationary Honda Civic at 119km/h, killing the two occupants of the Honda – Gilberto Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez – while Mr Riad and his passenger were hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries.

Mr Riad pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter – allowing him to avoid an admission of guilt but accept the conviction – and was sentenced to two years of probation, 31 days of work service, 100 hours of community service, 90 days of house arrest, and a “hospital and morgue program”.

The post Drunk driver of semi-autonomous Tesla crashed into police car after 150 warnings appeared first on Drive.