Elon Musk announced on social media the availability of Autopilot for the Tesla Model S on November 24. Security cameras in San Francisco show that hours later there was a notable accident with a Model S that wore it active. The car decided to change lanes and come to a complete stop for no apparent reason, causing a multiple collision.
Musk announced autonomous driving features for his Model S on November 24, 2022, on Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The police report details that the vehicle, a Tesla Model S, had the “full autonomous driving” function activated.
I obtained surveillance footage of the self-driving Tesla that abruptly stopped on the Bay Bridge, resulting in an eight-vehicle crash that injured 9 people including a 2 yr old child just hours after Musk announced the self-driving feature.
Full story: https://t.co/LaEvX9TzxW pic.twitter.com/i75jSh2UpN
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 10, 2023
The vehicle abruptly changed lanes and came to a virtual stop, causing a multi-faceted collision involving eight vehicles. The security cameras, which captured the accident quite clearly, show how the car indicates the maneuver with the indicator, to later stop dead when changing lanes.
The accident caused nine injured, including a two-year-old boy, in addition to blocking traffic on the San Francisco Bay Bridge for more than two hours. The accident occurred just hours after Musk announced the autonomous driving beta feature.
According to The Intercept, Tesla vehicles accounted for nearly 70% of traffic accidents involving advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
It’s not the first time Tesla’s ghost brake has caused problems. In the same month of November, drastic braking by a Model Y ended up resulting in a fatal accident in which two people lost their lives and three others were injured. Those responsible for the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) claim to have received more than 700 reports about this “ghost braking”, of which the cause is still unknown.
Via | The Intercept
