# A Tesla Owner's Excuse For His Drunk Driving Crash: The Car Was Driving



## Joe Btfsplk (Feb 6, 2018)

*According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver explained that his Tesla electric vehicle "had been set on autopilot," obviating the need for him to be in control of the vehicle or, well, sober.*
The driver had a blood alcohol content nearly double the legal limit and a tenuous relationship with consciousness when his car slammed into the back of a parked firetruck on San Francisco's Bay Bridge.

Still, he became maybe the first to add a technologically advanced new entry to the list of drunken driving excuses.



He wasn't driving, the man told the highway patrolman Monday morning. The car was.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver explained that his Tesla electric vehicle "had been set on autopilot," obviating the need for him to be in control of the vehicle or, well, sober.

He was wrong, of course, and was ultimately jailed under suspicion of driving under the influence. But as word of another Tesla autopilot crash spread, the case of car as designated driver became an interesting thought exercise for anyone with more than a passing interest in vehicles that drive themselves.

If Elon Musk and other forward-thinking automakers have their way, there will soon be a time when there is no more drunken driving, because cars never have to wonder whether they've had one too many vodka martinis.

But until we all have our own computer-controlled, two-ton chauffeurs, we're left with an increasing number of cars with a raft of features that make them semiautonomous - vehicles that are safer and smarter, if not particularly geniuses.



Carmakers are transparent about that caveat emptor quality of their vehicles.

Tesla, for example, warns that its autopilot system is not fully autonomous. Attempts to reach Tesla for comment were not immediately successful. But the company instructs drivers to be alert because they are ultimately responsible for their vehicle and whatever it smacks into.

But humans can slip into complacency when the car is doing most or all of the work.

For example, a fatal Tesla crash involving the autopilot system drew international scrutiny in spring 2016. The Model S had been set on autopilot and neither the vehicle nor the driver recognized that a tractor-trailer hauling blueberries had turned onto the divided highway.

In its report, the National Transportation Safety Board cited Joshua Brown's overreliance on the autopilot. He had set the speed at 10 mph over the posted speed limit and in the final 37 minutes of his drive, he had his hands on the wheel for just 25 seconds. He also ignored seven dashboard warnings and six audible warnings.

For Brown, those mistakes were fatal. But as technology advances, automakers say, they won't be mistakes at all.

"We aimed for a very simple, clean design, because in the future - really, the future being now - the cars will be increasingly autonomous," Musk said in July, according to The Washington Post's Peter Holley. "So you won't really need to look at an instrument panel all that often. You'll be able to do whatever you want: You'll be able to watch a movie, talk to friends, go to sleep."

And Musk and other autonomous vehicle proponents have disseminated videos and other media that show autopilot at its best, protecting drivers, passengers and even pedestrians from crashes.

Authorities have not identified the driver of the Tesla that crashed into the firetruck on the Bay Bridge. They say no one - not even autonomous vehicle drivers - is allowed to be drunk behind the wheel of a car, no matter how advanced its safety features.

No one was seriously injured in the Bay Area wreck; the firefighters were parked in the emergency lane and car pool lane, responding to a crash on the other side of their truck, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Tesla can check the car's data to see whether the car was indeed using autopilot before the crash, but have not released that information.

Firefighters joked that the feature definitely wasn't engaged after the 65 mph crash.

The car was towed, they said. "No, it didn't drive itself to the tow yard."

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/a-t...unk-driving-crash-the-car-was-driving-1803996


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## creature (Feb 6, 2018)

uhmm.. like.. watching a DVD of a car chase instead of steering?

NFK...

scary shit...


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## TheWindAndRain (Feb 7, 2018)

I'm all for the self-driving cars. My hope is it will give cyclists a fighting chance at survival in more cities.


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## autumn (Feb 8, 2018)

Aussie Timm said:


> you can stick that shit right up your arse. Id much rather not put my life in the hands of a computer thank you very much.



No need to be so hostile.

As much as I hate Elon Musk (bourgeoisie swine), self driving cars are far safer. Humans are fundamentally maladapted to driving - we can't focus on everything, or maintain focus consistently. People underreact, overreact, fail to drive at safe speeds. Have you ever driven down the highway during a huge blizzard? There's usually at least 1 or 2 big ass dodge rams that flipped over the divider because the idiot driving them didn't know that 4wd only helps you go, not stop. I hardly trust anyone to not get themselves killed while driving.


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## wokofshame (Feb 9, 2018)

The kicker to all this is that technology has put us in this jam- smartphones are rendering drivers brain-dead. I ride around with a coterie of 20 and 30-somethings on long drives for work, and NONE, not a goddamn one, puts the phone away when driving. Every single one texts, watches videos, snapchats, and various other stupid crap while driving instead of watching the road and keeping us safe.
I've been considering/fantasizing about purchasing a jammer for the last year, I'll laugh so hard when their phones no longer get reception every time they're with me. 

One thing I see on the reg with the same people is that they have completely no idea how to get back to places they've been multiple, even dozens of times already. Instead of ever memorizing it, they turn on the GPS (further distracting them) and follow it, even if it leads them into people's private yards, tells them to turn into the ditch, take U-turns, cut through gated private roads, etc. 
Humans are so fucking stupid these days, and a lot of it has to do with our use of technology.


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## celticpunk (Feb 10, 2018)

LOL ... they can send a Tesla into space without any problem buy they can't make it avoid a parked firetruck


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