Tesla Investigating Fatal China Crash

Tesla Motors said that it’s investigating the fatal accident involving its car in China. However, the carmaker is still perplexed as to how to figure out whether the semi-autopilot mode was engaged during the time of the crash. The company also said that there’s ‘no way of knowing it’ since the car was unable to transmit data due to the massive impact on its transmitting system during the collision.

The trouble started for the electric technology giant when its Tesla Model S crashed into a road sweeper truck on a highway on January 20 near Handan, China, killing the 23-year-old car driver, Gao Yaning. Post the incident, the victim’s family filed a lawsuit in Beijing against Tesla and the dealer who sold the car to them. 

This is not the only fatal accident involving a Tesla. In May this year, a similar incident occurred when a car engaged in Autopilot mode collided at high speed with a tractor-trailer that had turned in front of it in Florida, USA.

In its CCTV footage report, a police officer said about the crash in China: “When it was approaching the road sweeper, the car didn’t put on the brake or avoid it; instead, it crashed right into it.” However, this doesn’t tell us whether it was a failure of the autopilot mode or the fault of the car’s driver. 

Speaking about the incident, Tesla spokesperson Alexis Georgeson said in the company’s statement: “Because of the damage caused by the collision, the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers, and we therefore have no way of knowing whether or not Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.” 

“We have tried repeatedly to work with our customer to investigate the cause of the crash, but he has not provided us with any additional information that would allow us to do so,” she added.

Interestingly, the incident happens to be just three days after Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors, delineated the changes planned for the Autopilot feature so that such crashes can be prevented.