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Model 3 totaled in accident
- Thread starter ErickVuckson
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- autopilot crash totaled
Yes it is definitely the most well built car I have seen. The frame looks untouched. And no we don't believe there was a collision with the deer but we're not 100% positive on that.
I agree. But on the other hand, autopilot malfunctions have led to many fatal airplane crashes when pilots have taken all of the emergency procedures. In this situation I just want to know If autopilot initiated an evasive measure that caused her to unknowingly disengage autopilot or if it was on for the whole duration of the accident and why it reacted the way it did.
golfpilot
Member
This is a real issue with autopilot. Because there isn’t a hud, there isn’t a way to know if autopilot disengages if you miss the ring or don’t look down. Immediately after a disengagement situation it’s possible to ignore both cues.
I have caught myself a handful of times catching the car when auto steer disengages but stays in cruise control.
I don’t have a good solution to that.
Are you a pilot? I am. Saying MANY is a HUGE exaggeration. The Boeing 737 Max issue relates to two crashes. Most AP systems in planes are easily overridden. Lack of attention has led to crashes but that isn't the fault of the AP system. People hate Tesla calling it AP. However, many aircraft systems are more limited than the system on a Tesla. They follow a course. That's it. Mine will also do vertical navigation. Jets often get autothrottles. The best systems can do a landing on some ILS systems but that's actually a small percentage of the AP systems out there. If I grab the stick and move it there is a loud beep as the system disengages.
lbowroom
Plaid, white on black, CF, 8/27/21, Track Pack
Ludalicious
Active Member
Been there before. Don't know where you live but here. If you actually don't get any part of the animal as evidence. I.E. hair in the grille ect. then the insurance company will find you 100% at fault.
I hope for your sake that you are able to retrieve the videos you need.
I hope for your sake that you are able to retrieve the videos you need.
Concur...
Unless you have some proof re the roll of the deer in the accident, your insurance company will probably count this as an at-fault accident. Unless you are in a no-fault state, your collision insurance will cover your damages (less your deducible), but your premiums will go up.
You have to hit the deer. If you hit the deer, it is a Comp claim, if you (or autopilot) swerve and don’t hit the deer it is an at-fault collision claim.
Sure it does, all you have to do is apply too much torque to the steering wheel and Autosteer turns off leaving TACC still engaged.
Glad that your gf is mostly okay. She did suffer a concussion and shock.
Having been in an almost identical deer t-bone accident, in a Volt, without the car in front, a little over a year ago, I think getting the video would be very useful. There's a big difference between hitting a deer in the front, and getting hit by a deer in the side. If the car avoided a frontal hit, it may have saved your gf's life; but if it avoided a side hit, then, it probably caused far more damage by swerving into the left median. Making it under those cables and taking out 15 stanchions, is a very big accident. Those cables could have torn off the canopy of the car. In fact, it's hard to imagine those cables were installed properly if a car can submarine under them.
In my case, I caught a glimpse of the deer a second before it hit me, and my instinct was to swerve into the left lane, so that the deer glanced off my passenger-side doors. $5000 in replacing the doors. Deer ran away, and I drove the car home.
I'd get a lawyer to request the video.
Having been in an almost identical deer t-bone accident, in a Volt, without the car in front, a little over a year ago, I think getting the video would be very useful. There's a big difference between hitting a deer in the front, and getting hit by a deer in the side. If the car avoided a frontal hit, it may have saved your gf's life; but if it avoided a side hit, then, it probably caused far more damage by swerving into the left median. Making it under those cables and taking out 15 stanchions, is a very big accident. Those cables could have torn off the canopy of the car. In fact, it's hard to imagine those cables were installed properly if a car can submarine under them.
In my case, I caught a glimpse of the deer a second before it hit me, and my instinct was to swerve into the left lane, so that the deer glanced off my passenger-side doors. $5000 in replacing the doors. Deer ran away, and I drove the car home.
I'd get a lawyer to request the video.
Kilotango74
Active Member
I think that's the limitations that we as users should expect from the Auto Pilot and frankly all autonomous system at this point. The car is not going to differentiate between a car, motorcycle, deer or bigfoot if it is approaching from the side at a rapid pace. Its going to sense a potential collision and react to avoid it. Its not a perfect system by any means, but Tesla is consistently working and tweaking it. People rely on the system as expect it to be perfect I think, but that seems to get people into trouble. This doesn't seem to be the case in this instance, I don't think an accident of some type could have been avoided.
Number one, I'm sorry that she's shook up but glad that she's otherwise physically unharmed.
However, her changing recollection of events shows why accident reconstructionists prefer to work with observable evidence instead of eyewitness accounts. Driving along normally in the dark when airbags suddenly pop off with wrenching deceleration and sounds of tearing metal could easily lead to confusion. So could later seeing her boyfriend's wrecked Tesla and not wanting to upset him further.
Most single car wrecks are caused by driver error. Not all, sure, but most. Often an inappropriate response to a relatively little thing amplifies it into a crash. Remember the late '90s Ford Explorer roll-overs? Firestone tires were more prone to blow-outs, especially when hot. If drivers simply held the steering wheel straight and did not brake, allowing the SUV to gradually slow and gradually pull to the right, all would've been fine. But 'pow!' tire blows: too many drivers' instinct is to stab the brake, causing the SUV to slew to the direction of a blown front tire. Next common bad decision is to jerk the wheel in the opposition direction of the sudden movement, thereby overcorrecting. At freeway speeds it only takes two of these bad reactions for an SUV to leave the roadway at a steep angle, leading with the blown front wheel which digs into the dirt and "trips" the high speed, high center of gravity SUV into a roll-over.
Any sudden driver input at 75 mph carries big risks but most drivers' (poor) instinct is to stab the brakes harder and jerk the steering wheel harder the faster they are going. I have no idea if AP is programmed the same way, but I doubt it. I think that we shouldn't blindly accept that AP "swerved" at all. For that matter, there's a reason why insurance companies want proof of deer causing accidents: because too many drivers blame phantom deer for their sudden overreaction to some relatively little thing.
Before we condemn AP for swerving off the roadway into a cable barrier, we should at least consider the possibility that the driver saw (or thought she saw) something off to her right side and suddenly jerked the steering wheel to the left, overriding AP (if it was even on; remember that we want to consider all possibilities until shown otherwise with observable evidence).
Final question: however the car swerved to the left into the cable barrier, how did it ride down the cable barrier with the right side of the car? Some more pictures and a collision diagram from the Indiana State Police (based on observable skid marks and damage points to the barrier and car) would help us understand the mechanics of this unfortunate event. The state or toll road authority will almost certainly ask OP's insurance to pay for the damage to the cable barrier, so OP should be able to quickly obtain collision report and pictures.
Please keep us updated with what you find.
Again, I'm glad that your girlfriend is physically unharmed and sad that your Tesla is wrecked.
That isn't autosteer disengaging. That is the driver disengaging autosteer.
Autosteer simply disengaging when instructed to by the driver through hard wheel input isn't a phenomena in need of a solution. I've never had my hand resting on the wheel to eliminate the nags create enough torque to disable AS.
Lots of people think AS has disengaged when it sends up the red alert and flashing hands, but it hasn't -- it is simply alerting you that it wants you to take over but AS is still steering as best it can. (at least when I last tested and videoed a number of software updates ago). It has not disengaged on its own.
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Auto steering can be disengaged with varying degrees of force dependent on current driving conditions. Also, I have seen auto steer disengage on it's own after the red alert and before I actually took control(was testing a scenario shortly after I got the car).
I tested the same and AS kept steering around a curve. And I have a video somewhere of it. It most definitely did NOT disengage after a long persistent red hand alarm. (I was testing in safe conditions -- in Mexico)
People usually think AS has disengaged and stopped all steering control when the red hands go up, but I could not create that -- it definitely kept steering.
Also, the car makes a ton of noises and the screen flashes red. Even if AP disengaged at that point, there is no way anyone remotely paying attention would fail to notice that the car required his attention. On the other hand, it IS easy to knowingly disengage AP but not realize that TACC is still engaged.
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