Tesla driver killed when Autopilot fails to avoid collision, sparking investigation

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a preliminary investigation into the Tesla Model S on Thursday after it was reported a Tesla driver died while the semi-autonomous Autopilot system was engaged on Wednesday.

According to a Tesla blog post, "The vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied."

Due to the tall height of the trailer, the Model S drove underneath it. This caused the Model S' windshield to collide with the trailer, killing the driver.

Tesla points out that if the Model S had "impacted the front or rear of the trailer, even at high speed, its advanced crash safety system would likely have prevented serious injury."

Tesla further explains that the semi-autonomous Autopilot system is in beta mode. Furthermore, before the system is activated, the driver has to acknowledge they are ultimately responsible for the driving. Clearly, that has not been apparent to all drivers, like the guy who was caught napping on the freeway while Autopilot was engaged.

"This is much like the autopilot on an airplane," CEO Elon Musk said in an email to Mashable. "They reduce pilot workload and increase safety, but should not be relied upon without human oversight. That's why we used the same name."

The collision is worrisome to makers and proponents of autonomous and semi-autonomous driving systems. Now the question becomes whether the incident is an outlier or an indication of a larger problem. And regardless which, what the impact will be on the advancement of self-driving systems.

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