Pro-Sapien Blog - Inside Health and Safety: Tesla Crash: Subtle Insights Into The Human-AI Relationship

The Tesla Model S Last week it emerged that a self-driving Tesla car had been involved in a fatal crash in Williston, Florida on May 7. The car was in Autopilot mode when its on-board system failed to recognize a left-turning truck intercepting its path, resulting in the car proceeding underneath the trailer and losing its roof. There are already numerous theories about what happened, the most likely being that the car's cameras could not decipher the pale trailer against the bright Florida sky. Another possibility is that the system registered the trailer as an overhead road sign – Tesla cars are programmed to ignore overhead signs to avoid excessive and unnecessary braking – which could have happened due to the onward view beneath the trailer being clear to cameras. Nonetheless, the crash resulted in the death of 40-year-old Joshua Brown from Ohio and official investigations have begun. Since the incident, Tesla has released a blog post expressing their condolences and outlining the safety procedures all Tesla cars are equipped with.