> CHP said Tuesday that they have not determined what driving mode the Tesla was in, but it does not appear to be a contributing factor in the incident.
If they had "black box" information indicating the driver steered the car over the cliff, they would also know what mode the car was in.
If they did not have any indication of what happened, surely they would be investigating whether this was an Autopilot bug. Surely everytime there's a severe Tesla accident, this is the first thing on investigator's minds, as there have been several fatalities caused by Autopilot bugs, and it would be important to determine whether other vehicles were at risk. (ETA: Though I suppose CHP wouldn't be the ones investigating that, it'd be NHTSA, which weakens the argument I've made here.)
If they had footage showing the car going over the cliff, it wouldn't be enough evidence to know one way or the other (at least not without extensive analysis taking much more time than had passed), unless the footage could see clearly through the windows (unlikely). Same goes for an eyewitness who was outside the car like another driver.
That makes testimony and/or cell phone recordings from inside the car the most likely explanation.
Yup, when I saw the initial report I wondered if it was a murder/suicide, or an extremely distracted or inattentive driver.
I've driven that section of Highway One South of Pacifica many times and it's narrow, so it could have been an accident, because lots of folks have gone over the cliff there and died over the years.
I hope the survivors of this family will be able to recover, and if the driver really did attempt to murder them, they should never get out of prison.
And the Hart family murder/suicide happened just about 20 miles North of my current town at my favorite turnout, which I now can't hang out at and enjoy the view anymore, too brutal of a memory.
I walked by the Hart family the day before the tragic event, they had just come out of our local ice cream shop, and couldn't help but notice them due to their mixed race.
As far as I recall, it was determined that it was only the driver who did it, as the rest of them had been heavily dosed with Benadryl.
The body of one child was never found.
Also, several years before that and about 10 miles further South, a mother drove her van off the cliff in a similar murder/suicide at Blues Beach.
I believe they all survived but the baby had permanent brain damage due to being upside down for hours before a local discovered them.
In 1986 I came upon a family murder / suicide scene where the father turned around his car on an expressway and drove into an oncoming intercity bus. It happens and the memory never goes away.
I am so glad the children made it, hope the best for them and that they will get the help they will need.
Interesting that the car type is being named when it had nothing to do with the crash. I guess that is good for headlines when you can hint that it might have been FSD when it has absolutely nothing to do with it.
That wasn't known when the original story broke, and it's a legitimate question whenever a Tesla has a severe collision. If you make yourself the poster child for self driving - this is part of the deal. The positive attention can only be had at the cost of the negative attention.
FWIW super performant EV’s can be dangerous in road rage - slam the gas and few seconds you are at a curve at uncontrollable speed with undersized brakes in a super heavy vehicle.
Seeing how many Plaid crashed already it’s bizzare this shit isn’t regulated.
It’s no different from the ‘AirTags used for stalking’ stories, when AirTags contain at least some privacy protections and generic Chinese trackers with no limitations have been available for years.
17 comments
[ 2.0 ms ] story [ 45.6 ms ] threadIt reminded me of this story:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/04/hart-m...
> CHP said Tuesday that they have not determined what driving mode the Tesla was in, but it does not appear to be a contributing factor in the incident.
If they had "black box" information indicating the driver steered the car over the cliff, they would also know what mode the car was in.
If they did not have any indication of what happened, surely they would be investigating whether this was an Autopilot bug. Surely everytime there's a severe Tesla accident, this is the first thing on investigator's minds, as there have been several fatalities caused by Autopilot bugs, and it would be important to determine whether other vehicles were at risk. (ETA: Though I suppose CHP wouldn't be the ones investigating that, it'd be NHTSA, which weakens the argument I've made here.)
If they had footage showing the car going over the cliff, it wouldn't be enough evidence to know one way or the other (at least not without extensive analysis taking much more time than had passed), unless the footage could see clearly through the windows (unlikely). Same goes for an eyewitness who was outside the car like another driver.
That makes testimony and/or cell phone recordings from inside the car the most likely explanation.
I've driven that section of Highway One South of Pacifica many times and it's narrow, so it could have been an accident, because lots of folks have gone over the cliff there and died over the years.
I hope the survivors of this family will be able to recover, and if the driver really did attempt to murder them, they should never get out of prison.
And the Hart family murder/suicide happened just about 20 miles North of my current town at my favorite turnout, which I now can't hang out at and enjoy the view anymore, too brutal of a memory.
I walked by the Hart family the day before the tragic event, they had just come out of our local ice cream shop, and couldn't help but notice them due to their mixed race.
As far as I recall, it was determined that it was only the driver who did it, as the rest of them had been heavily dosed with Benadryl.
The body of one child was never found.
Also, several years before that and about 10 miles further South, a mother drove her van off the cliff in a similar murder/suicide at Blues Beach.
I believe they all survived but the baby had permanent brain damage due to being upside down for hours before a local discovered them.
So damn sad... RIP.
I am so glad the children made it, hope the best for them and that they will get the help they will need.
Seeing how many Plaid crashed already it’s bizzare this shit isn’t regulated.