According to recent reports, a tractor-trailer crashed into a Tesla Model S near Willington on a busy highway. "Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied," wrote Tesla in its official blog about the incident. Report says that Tesla Model S driver died due to sustained injuries in the crash.
The 40-year-old driver, Joshua Brown, was a former NAVY Seal and also the owner of Nexu Solutions. Brown seemed pleased and confident about the autopilot feature as he posted a video of him dodging the truck as his car swerved while on autopilot. According to the truck driver, Frank Baressi, Brown was enjoying "Harry Potter" movie when the accident happened.
Despite the fata accident, Tesla stands by its car's safety feature. The reports indicate that even when the car is in autopilot mode, their hands need to be on the steering wheel at all times. This is to ensure that they have control over their vehicle enough to avoid such incidents. In case the hands are not detected on the wheel, the driver is alerted and the car's speed will automatically decrease until they put their hands back on the wheel.
