Tag: Tesla

Self-driving cars have been heralded as the biggest upcoming invention, and experts have claimed that they would be a normal part of our lives within a decade. However, the companies that are deeply involved with making these futuristic concepts a part of our reality have struggled to put together the pieces that are necessary to make self-driving cars safe enough for ordinary people to use on a regular basis.

Now, a lawsuit in China against self-driving car pioneer company Tesla may slow things down even more.

Tesla’s Autopilot Function at Issue in Car Accident

Tesla’s Autopilot feature, which was introduced into some of its cars back in October of 2015, was one of the features of the Tesla Model S sedan that 23-year-old Gao Yaning was driving in January, 2016. It was then that he rammed into the back of a street cleaning vehicle in the province of Hebei, in northeastern China. Yaning was killed in the car accident, and his father, Gao Jubin, filed suit against Tesla and the car dealership that sold his son the car that he was driving at the time.

Video shows that Yaning’s car careened into the back of the street cleaning vehicle without breaking.

Jubin’s lawsuit claims that the vehicle was in autopilot mode when the crash occurred, and that the autopilot program failed to take account of the road conditions. Tesla, however, disputes this claim, stating that there was no way of knowing whether the autopilot program was on, because the crash was so severe that “the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers.”

Tesla’s Autopilot System a Forerunner for Self-Driving Cars

Tesla’s autopilot system is not the self-driving car that we have heard so much about. Instead, it is a program that “sees” other cars and objects while driving on the highway, allowing the car to steer itself to maintain its lane, manage lane changes, and brake for upcoming obstacles. However, Tesla’s Autopilot program does not allow drivers to completely take their eyes off the road. Possibly because of this, numerous crashes and fatalities have been reported in which the driver of a Tesla vehicle completely relied on the program to drive the car, leading to an accident.

Cobb County Personal Injury Attorney Joel Williams

Tesla’s Autopilot program is a huge step towards self-driving cars. However, the Autopilot program should be thought of more as a halfway point between cars that need to be driven, and cars that can drive themselves. This has proven to be an awkward halfway point, because it requires drivers to remain attentive, with their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, while still assuring them that the car will do the work. These mixed messages are likely to blame for the wrecks that the device has created.

If you or someone you love has been involved in such a car accident, contact Williams Elleby Howard & Easter for legal representation.

Self-Driving Car Collides with Truck Trailer

Federal investigators found on Tuesday, July 26 that a Tesla Motors car that crashed in Florida was in self-driving mode and speeding at the time of the car accident, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Officials from the National Transit Safety Board are investigating the crash. The car collided with a tractor trailer in Williston, Florida, near Gainesville, on May 7. The tractor-trailer turned in front of the Tesla, which continued driving straight, so that the bottom edge of the 53-foot trailer sheared the roof from the Tesla as it traveled beneath the trailer and came out the other side. The driver was 40-year-old Joshua Brown from Canton, Ohio. According to The Guardian, the driver of the truck reported that Brown was watching Harry Potter on a DVD player in the vehicle, and that the movie was still playing after Brown’s car struck a telephone pole a quarter of a mile past the location of the tractor trailer collision.

Tesla Confused Tractor Trailer for a Clear Spring Day

The Tesla comes equipped with a self-driving system that automates highway driving. This equipment can control speed and lane changes using computer vision technology.

The automated driving system can negotiate slow traffic without driver input, and even avoid obstacles like highway wrecks. Although some Tesla owners have posted videos to YouTube in which they drive the car with their hands off the wheel, Tesla has discouraged the practice. Tesla founder Elon Musk says that this is the first self-driving accident for the Tesla, which means the technology has a lower accident rate than the average American driver. The company believes that the self-driving system was unable to distinguish between a bright spring sky and the white trailer on the truck, which prevented the system from attempting to stop automatically.

Law on Self-Driving Cars is Unsettled

Right now, there are no regulations in place to determine the standard behavior of fully autonomous driving systems. Because the technology is new, there is no specific law about how drivers should use the systems, either. However, drivers in Georgia must exercise reasonable caution when driving to prevent injury to others on the road. In the past, courts have placed the responsibility for turning off features like cruise control and taking direct control of the vehicle on the driver. If those features malfunction, though, the responsibility may be on the manufacturer of the vehicle.

Drivers May Be Liable for Accidents Despite Self-Driving Technology

Now that self-driving cars are on the highway, we’ll likely see more and more accidents that involve their use, and more lawsuits to determine who should bear the financial burden of those accidents. In an accident like the one in Florida, it seems that multiple problems lead to the collision. The company admits that the technology malfunctioned. But if the company warns drivers to remain alert and not to take their hands off the wheel while the self-driving system is active, they may avoid product liability in situations like this one. The driver also seems to have been distracted from the road, and may not have been watching when the truck turned in front of him. If he had injured someone and this kind of distraction had lead to the accident, he would be liable for negligence and have to pay damages.

Get Legal Help

If you or someone you know has been involved in a car accident, you need legal help. Contact an auto accident attorney at Williams Elleby Howard & Easter in Cobb County today to get the compensation you deserve.