While two Tesla crashes in the United States have shaken the world, Tesla’s autopilot caused another car accident here in Beijing this week.
Chinese portal Sina on Friday reported that the driver, a programmer at Chinese online travel agent Qunar, reported having a crash while on the auto pilot.
He posted on his Weibo on Wednesday describing his Tesla S was in autopilot mode, hit a Santana after failing to detect it.
(screenshot from Weibo)
The accident occurred on a highway in Beijing. A Santana had broken down on the road. Failing to detect it, the Tesla accelerated, and crashed into the Santana. Fortunately, the accident didn’t cause any injuries or deaths.
Just like the preceding fatal crash of Tesla – when, as reported by The Guardian, the Tesla on autopilot mode had hit a tractor-trailer and killed its driver – the accident in Beijing happened when Tesla was in autopilot mode.
Another Tesla crash in the US on July 1 left the driver and a passenger injured, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tesla has claimed that its autopilot allows cars to automatically change lanes and detect vehicles.
“Tesla’s autopilot detection system is awful. The vehicle is large enough. The time for autopilot to react is also long enough, at least five seconds,” said the Beijing driver.
The driver claimed that he phoned Tesla and has received no feedback about the bugs.
(Top photo from Baidu Images)