KAUFMAN, Texas — A Tesla Model S being driven in Autopilot crashed on U.S. Highway 175 in Kaufman earlier this month, according to a crash report obtained by inForney.com.
KAUFMAN, Texas — A Tesla Model S being driven in Autopilot crashed on U.S. Highway 175 in Kaufman earlier this month, according to a crash report obtained by inForney.com.
On August 7, 2016, the driver, 44-year-old Mark Molthan of Dallas, Texas, was traveling in the 2000 block of U.S. Highway 175 in Kaufman when the vehicle, while in Autopilot, failed to maintain a single lane of traffic at a bend in the highway and impacted the cable guardrail in multiple areas, according to the report.
“Driver of Unit 1 stated the vehicle was in autopilot,” states the report. “Driver stated he had done this multiple times and has never had an accident. Driver advised he was reaching to get something inside the vehicle.”
Molthan suffered a bloody nose in the crash and refused medical transport, stated the report.
In a phone interview with Bloomberg News, Molthan admits he was not paying full attention to the road — having reached into the glovebox to remove a cloth to clean the dashboard.
“I used Autopilot all the time on that stretch of the highway,” Molthan told Bloomberg. “But now I feel like this is extremely dangerous. It gives you a false sense of security. I’m not ready to be a test pilot. It missed the curve and drove straight into the guardrail. The car didn’t stop -- it actually continued to accelerate after the first impact into the guardrail.”
Tesla describes its Autopilot, a feature which is disabled by default, as an “assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times.”
Upon enabling the feature, drivers are prompted to acknowledge the system is new technology and is still in a public beta phase.
Drivers are reminded to “always keep your hands on the wheel” and “be prepared to take over at any time” when enabling Autopilot, according to Tesla.
