Current Events > 'No one was driving the car': 2 men dead after fiery Tesla crash

(+) Yeah! (+)

Two men are dead after a Tesla traveling in Spring crashed into a tree and no one was driving the vehicle, officials say.

The crash happened at 11:25 p.m. in the Carlton Woods subdivision near the Woodlands. The car burst into flames after hitting a tree near 18 Hammock Dunes Place.

Harris County Constable Precinct 4 deputies said the vehicle was traveling at a high speed when it failed to negotiate a cul-de-sac turn, ran off the road and hit the tree.

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman told KPRC 2 that the investigation showed no one was driving the fully-electric 2019 Tesla when the accident happened. There was a person in the passenger seat of the front of the car and in the rear passenger seat of the car.

Authorities said they used 32,000 gallons of water over four hours to extinguish the flames because the vehicles batteries kept reigniting. At one point, Herman said, deputies had to call Tesla to ask them how to put out the fire in the battery.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/04/18/2-men-dead-after-fiery-tesla-crash-in-spring-officials-say/

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Was it supposed to be self driving?

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This is why we'll never have fully autonomous vehicles on the road, outside of maybe dedicated highways specifically for autonomous vehicles that have no odd intersections or whatever.

And tbh it's better that we don't. Don't need people going 150 mph down the road getting plowed in the backseat

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Terminator warned Us

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wackyteen posted...

This is why we'll never have fully autonomous vehicles on the road, outside of maybe dedicated highways specifically for autonomous vehicles that have no odd intersections or whatever.

And tbh it's better that we don't. Don't need people going 150 mph down the road getting plowed in the backseat

I believe for the most part they've been way safer than human drivers so far. I'd assume this accident was a human-forced error depending on how the settings work, like the idiot just forgot to actually properly turn on the self-driving and got into the passenger seat to show how it works.

wackyteen posted...

This is why we'll never have fully autonomous vehicles on the road, outside of maybe dedicated highways specifically for autonomous vehicles that have no odd intersections or whatever.

And tbh it's better that we don't. Don't need people going 150 mph down the road getting plowed in the backseat

No way. Theres no future where theres human drivers instead of autonomous vehicles.

Elon - "ehh just a glitch"
Tesla owners - "YOU CALL THIS A GLITCH?!"


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I haven't looked into Tesla in a while but I remember them saying there should always be someone at the wheel.

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MorbidFaithless posted...

I haven't looked into Tesla in a while but I remember them saying there should always be someone at the wheel.

100% this

They tell you explicitly to always be at the wheel.

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I did not murder him!
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We arent anywhere close to widespread autonomous vehicles.

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Jagr_68 posted...

Elon - "ehh just a glitch"
Tesla owners - "YOU CALL THIS A GLITCH?!"

Also tesla owners "I'm not going to think much about how this car works, and to what extent, as long as I get to be an ignorant douchebag"

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Real life Delamain taxi cab from Cyberpunk.

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Jagr_68 posted...

Elon - "ehh just a glitch"
Tesla owners - "YOU CALL THIS A GLITCH?!"

I call crashing while having literally no driver working as intended

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wackyteen posted...

This is why we'll never have fully autonomous vehicles on the road, outside of maybe dedicated highways specifically for autonomous vehicles that have no odd intersections or whatever.

And tbh it's better that we don't. Don't need people going 150 mph down the road getting plowed in the backseat

I think it depends on where you are. I wouldn't yet trust the machine with wilder roads, but it should be fine in sub/urban sprawl.

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This car was trying to turn in a fucking cul de sac and was going fast enough to explode when it ran into something? That's insane, I feel as though the passengers were paying absolutely no attention.

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codey posted...

This car was trying to turn in a fucking cul de sac and was going fast enough to explode when it ran into something? That's insane, I feel as though the passengers were paying absolutely no attention.

Im no detective but it looks like they were probably drunk and trying to avoid a DUI

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MutantJohn posted...

They tell you explicitly to always be at the wheel.

Imagine how agonizingly boring yet immeasurably stressful it'll be to "drive" for 2 hours, where you're not so much as driving as you're a living standby emergency control mechanism that has to react in less than 2 seconds in the 0,0005% chance of the car's AI without warning going batshit wonky.

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codey posted...

This car was trying to turn in a fucking cul de sac and was going fast enough to explode when it ran into something? That's insane, I feel as though the passengers were paying absolutely no attention.

The driver seat literally had no one in it

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yeah, i keep seeing these stories. its so crazy that someone would think their car is smart enough to drive by themselves that they would do something like not be in the seat or fall asleep or play a video game.

i mean they tell you that you need to be in the seat. they tell you they're still working on it. they tell you all these things and people ignore them.

which just means that Tesla will end up having to clamp down on how much they let people, i guess test their automated driving program. then whats the point?

anyway im buying a Chevy Volt.

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You would think there would be a safety feature that doesn't let the car or auto pilot run without someone in the drivers seat, and if someone hops out it comes to a gradual slowdown.
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Self driving cars are not fit for the road. People need to face the facts that a human driver is required to safely operate motor vehicles.
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metallica846 posted...

I thought the self drive doesnt work unless you have hands on the steering wheel now??

Something is missing here.

I don't think that's the case because it turns the steering wheel on its own.

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voldothegr8 posted...

You would think there would be a safety feature that doesn't let the car or auto pilot run without someone in the drivers seat, and if someone hops out it comes to a gradual slowdown.

Even my forklift goes out of gear when there isnt pressure in the seat.

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I mean...self driving doesnt mean go to sleep and not pay attention. Go ahead and relax but stay vigilant in case you need to take over.

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Hop103 posted...

Self driving cars are not fit for the road. People need to face the facts that a human driver is required to safely operate motor vehicles.

Yeah because humans are so good at driving that over a million people die in car crashes every year. Self driving cars are already safer than the average human driver. They just need a little more time and then they'll be safer than even the best human drivers.

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TheVipaGTS posted...

I mean...self driving doesnt mean go to sleep and not pay attention. Go ahead and relax but stay vigilant in case you need to take over.

Alas, that "stay vigilant" thing is what 95% people will forget to do five minutes after getting into their car.

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TheVipaGTS posted...

I mean...self driving doesnt mean go to sleep and not pay attention. Go ahead and relax but stay vigilant in case you need to take over.

That's not what self driving means and Tesla doesn't have self driving. It has auto pilot.

Cars like the Google cars are self driving and don't even have steering wheels.

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Well then I meant to say auto pilot.

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