A man from North Brunswick, New Jersey, reportedly almost died after his rogue Tesla recently decided to crash off the highway – the vehicle's so-called "autopilot" mode taking control and plowing right into several objects before coming to a sudden halt.
Local news reports indicate that the Tesla vehicle "got confused due to the lane markings," which resulted in its inability to decipher between the highway's driving lane and the exit lane. The driver of the Tesla says the "autopilot" split the difference and went down "the middle," before veering off the highway entirely and crashing.
The driver says he tried to take control of the Tesla and override the "autopilot," but that the vehicle "would not let him."
While initial reports contained a statement from Tesla that "the driver always has control," these statements were later removed without explanation.
This incident in New Jersey is hardly isolated, as there have been multiple reports of Tesla cars getting "confused" while running on "autopilot." The vehicles apparently have a difficult time with highway exits, and often don't know whether to keep going, take the exit, or go down "the middle."
Tesla insists that its cars are completely safe, and that drivers are always able to override the "autopilot" function. But that, too, appears to be a lie, as cases of Teslas overriding their drivers are on the rise.
Business Insider actually issued a warning about this, stating that Elon Musk is "reckless" for suggesting that the Tesla "autopilot" function is completely safe.
"He's wrong, but it's his job to sell cars," says Mary Cummings, a professor at Duke University, as quoted by Business Insider.
Teslas are also known to burst into flames without warning
Besides lying about the true nature of Tesla's "autopilot" functionality, Musk has been completely silent about the many instances in which his vehicles have suddenly burst into flames without warning.
As we reported last May, three Tesla vehicles crashed, burst into flames, or both within a matter of a week.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a Tesla Model S randomly slammed into a wall, resulting in its battery catching fire. Two of the car's three passengers were thrown from the vehicle and killed, and the third suffered serious injuries.
Another Model S reportedly did much the same thing in Salt Lake City, Utah, crashing into a parked firetruck at 60 miles per hour.
And in Germany that same week, a third Tesla vehicle suddenly burst into flames on the highway, killing the 48-year-old driver who was trapped inside, and who burned to death.
Senior research analyst blames Elon Musk for "reckless" rhetoric
The moral of the story is that Teslas simply aren't safe. But you'll never hear this truth from Elon Musk, who continues to tout his Tesla cars as somehow superior to normal cars.
"Nothing has changed for Elon," says Sam Abuelsamid, a senior research analyst from the group Navigant.
"He remains as reckless as he's ever been with regard to the way he talks about Autopilot and its capabilities."
Abuelsamid went on to say that whenever Musk tells his customers that Tesla cars are self-driving, even though they're not, that he's "actually putting his customers at risk, because you have to take into account the reality of human behavior with these kinds of systems, and Tesla is not doing that."
For more news about autonomous vehicles, read Robocars.news.
Sources for this article include:
Please contact us for more information.
