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Drive your damn Tesla

Climber

Climber

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2004
Location
Clovis/Fresno
Moto(s)
01 Goldwing GL1800
Name
Brett
A driverless Tesla crashed and burned for four hours, police said, killing two passengers in Texas
Just before midnight Saturday, a Tesla drove swiftly around a curve, veered off the road, struck a tree and burst into flames in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb north of Houston, police said.

It took four hours for fire officials to put out the flames. Inside the 2019 Model S, police said, they found two passengers dead - and discovered that neither was driving the Tesla at the time of the crash.

"Our investigation has determined that one of the victims was in the front passenger seat, one was in the back seat," Mark Herman, a constable for Harris County Precinct 4, told KHOU, adding that police were "100% certain that no one was in the driver's seat."
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These two belong in the Darwin Awards.
 
Just before midnight on a Saturday? Booze involved along with stupidity?
 
Over a year ago a co worker drove several team members (all software engineers) to some lunch outing thing. I was the youngest one at 40 yrs old, everyone else was in their 50s+. On the way back to work on 101 he wanted to show us the self driving feature. I was interested in seeing the feature in action. One person quickly said, "Hey do we get a vote in this?". Nope :laughing
 
Climber said:
These two belong in the Darwin Awards.
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Right up there with the 'ol 'will bullet proof vest stop a knife'.

"I don't know. Here, you put on the vest and I will get the knife"


Blankpage said:
The car was the designated driver
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There are many stories about this working-- sleeping drivers, drunk drivers---- maybe not drivers, but at least there were in the driver seat.
 
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Makes you wonder how one of those guys managed to make enough money to buy a Tesla, as that's so colossally stupid.
 
Nah, fake news. The car couldn't have been in Autopilot since those small streets don't have road markings and Autopilot doesn't engage with no road markings present.

My guess is they totaled it, got trapped, and the driver tried climbing out of the car but was unable to.
 
mrzuzzo said:
Nah, fake news. The car couldn't have been in Autopilot since those small streets don't have road markings and Autopilot doesn't engage with no road markings present.

My guess is they totaled it, got trapped, and the driver tried climbing out of the car but was unable to.
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Not an invalid possibility.
 
I have a Model S. The only way to engage autopilot on city streets is with clear lane markings, and there were none in that gated community. Let's say they faked the markings with spraypaint themselves on the pavement, even then Autopilot speed is restricted to 30mph on city streets.

So there is no plausible way that nobody was driving the car. It's just 2 dudes who went for a joyride and totaled it. I have a non-performance S and I can easily lose grip on the tires since it's still about 500hp or so, with a 0-60 of 4.2s. The performance models are pretty wild, I think they are pushing close to 700hp if not more.

These cars have automatic emergency braking but it won't help if you point the car at a tree. The AEB only keeps you from crashing into other cars, and even then it can be overridden with the accelerator pedal.
 
afm199 said:
Makes you wonder how one of those guys managed to make enough money to buy a Tesla, as that's so colossally stupid.
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Not at all, I think a large perception of Tesla customers are dummies leading a normal life, with normal money.

A certain barfer poSted it years ago, said “I have the self-driving feature, but I still hold the wheel, because I’m not a dummy ”

mrzuzzo said:
I have a Model S. The only way to engage autopilot on city streets is with clear lane markings, and there were none in that gated community. Let's say they faked the markings with spraypaint themselves on the pavement, even then Autopilot speed is restricted to 30mph on city streets.

So there is no plausible way that nobody was driving the car. I.
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Right, okay, sure. Or maybe you’re spreading an incorrect but guessed version ...? Because the above doesn’t really say why it’s reasonable that someone out of two people was in the back seat, actually. Why would they go for a joyride like that...

Technically, the people on the scene said “no one was in the seat [while burning] “ not while driving, I guess they don’t know (yet?)
 
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AbsolutEnduser said:
A certain barfer poSted it years ago, said “I have the self-driving feature, but I still hold the wheel, because I’m not a dummy ”
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Huh? Autopilot turns off if you don't hold the wheel so that's literally the only way you can use it. I guess there are some "tricks" like putting a weight on the wheel but they don't work well.
 
1/2 mile from my boss' house. Said the guy is (was) a doctor and a car buff. Took a buddy to show off the car and had only gone about 200 yards before it happened.
 
AbsolutEnduser said:
Right, okay, sure. Or maybe you’re spreading an incorrect but guessed version ...? Because the above doesn’t really say why it’s reasonable that someone out of two people was in the back seat, actually. Why would they go for a joyride like that...

Technically, the people on the scene said “no one was in the seat [while burning] “ not while driving, I guess they don’t know (yet?)
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Occcams razor applies here. They crashed head-on, but the driver was conscious after the crash so the driver crawled into the back to try to get out. He was unable to get out.
 
mrzuzzo said:
Huh? Autopilot turns off if you don't hold the wheel so that's literally the only way you can use it. I guess there are some "tricks" like putting a weight on the wheel but they don't work well.
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When you say "but they don't work well" but the whole internet is awash with the "way to avoid the nagging Autopilot hands-on requirement"... yeah, I think maybe you're trying to steer people away from knowing something

mean dad said:
1/2 mile from my boss' house. Said the guy is (was) a doctor and a car buff. Took a buddy to show off the car and had only gone about 200 yards before it happened.
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modified? :dunno dunno. New software, disable requirements, etc.

Oh, let me guess, a car buff doesn't know "[the car can ]easily lose grip on the tires since it's still about 500hp or so, " .. hmm. :dunno
 
This accident is tragic for sure. I hope their families get some peace eventually.

This part is concerning:

" Officials in Houston said the battery inside Tesla ignited after the collision, causing a fire that burned for four hours and required more than 30,000 gallons of water to put out." :wow
 
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