A Tesla Model S that was running on Autopilot crashed into a parked police car in California. Luckily, there was no one in the police car and the Tesla driver also suffered minor injuries. The incident was reported to Laguna Beach Police Department. The website of Tesla is stating that the Tesla Model S is “having the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human .” The company’s usual practice after any crash of this kind is to issue a statement that says “Tesla has always been clear that Autopilot doesn’t make the car impervious to all accidents.”
This year has faced multiple Autopilot incidents which includes a crash with a fire truck as well where the driver was using the technology to get out of DUIs. The company will be required to put the technology under strict scrutiny to figure out the issues. Federal investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have gone to Utah to get a better understanding of the circumstances that led to the crash which involved the autopilot.
The Autopilot crashes have earned Tesla a lot of negative press. However, none of the accidents was as damaging to its reputation than the fatal car accident of Uber self-driving car in Arizona this March. With all these crashes and incidents, it is clear that the self-driving car manufacturers really need to do some work to their cars.