Tesla Autopilot may cause another accident with minor injuries to the occupants

According to foreign media reports, a Tesla model equipped with Autopilot automatic driving function (it is not clear whether it is Model S or Model X) drove into a swamp in central Minnesota on July 16 local time and overturned. The local sheriff's office said that the driver and four passengers in the accident vehicle were slightly injured.

After the accident, some reports cited the local sheriff's office as directly attributing the cause of the accident to the Autopilot automatic driving function. Then there were reports that this conclusion was entirely based on the information provided by the driver. The driver was David Clark, 58, from Eden Prairie. David told the police that the vehicle was using the automatic driving function when the accident occurred, but it suddenly accelerated, causing the vehicle to deviate from the lane and overturn. It was reported that when the accident occurred, the vehicle was at the intersection of 141 Street and 172 Street, and planned to drive east along 172 Street.

There have been multiple accidents blamed on Tesla's Autopilot feature over the past few years, including several complaints of "sudden acceleration" into commercial areas, such as a Model S that drove into a fitness gym in Florida and a Model X that drove into a beauty salon in California.

However, in most previous accidents, Tesla was able to retrieve data from the vehicle to prove that the driver ignored the warnings issued by the vehicle or did not put his hands on the steering wheel, and should be held responsible for the accident. The foreign website electrk once saw the data of the accident vehicle as a third party and confirmed Tesla's statement.

As for the accident that just happened in Minnesota, Tesla was unable to retrieve the vehicle data because Tesla did not know whether the vehicle was in Autopilot mode when the accident occurred. A Tesla spokesperson issued the following statement to electrk:

"We are pleased to see that the driver and passengers remain safe. We are currently trying to establish the facts of the accident and are fully cooperating with the local authorities in their investigation. As of now, we are not sure whether the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that Autopilot can reduce accident rates by 40%. Each time the driver activates Autopilot, they will be informed that they still need to supervise the vehicle and be prepared to take over driving at any time. Drivers must understand their responsibilities before using the Autopilot function."

The website electrk pointed out that the reason why Tesla failed to recover the data of the vehicle in the Minnesota accident this time was probably because the accident was serious. After the accident, the car flipped at least once, and when the police arrived, they found that the vehicle was completely turned upside down.

Thanks to the sturdy roof structure, Tesla vehicles received high scores in rollover safety tests. Because the battery pack is close to the bottom, the center of gravity is low. Coupled with the weight of the vehicle, it is difficult to roll over, so the electrk website speculates that the accident should be serious.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.