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Tesla in Moscow crashes into tow truck while on Autopilot
Another Tesla crash might serve as a reminder that Autopilot isn't flawless. Driver Alexi Tretyakov reported that his EV (said to be a Model 3) crashed into a parked tow truck on Moscow's Ring Road while Autopilot was active. The owner said the August 10th incident occurred while he was driving at the speed limit with his hands on the wheel -- it's just that neither he nor the semi-autonomous system spotted the truck.
Microsoft blocks May 2019 Windows update on the Surface Book 2
Microsoft has blocked the latest major Windows 10 (May 2019, version 1903) update on its own Surface Book 2. According to the company, a compatibility issue caused some apps and games that used the Nvidia GPU to crash after the update was installed. Until that glitch is resolved, Surface Book 2 owners won't be able to download the update.
After Math: Flipping the Switch
Nintendo wasn't the only company this week making headlines about switches. Facebook's poker playing AI turned the tables on some Texas Hold'em pros, Foxconn pulled the old switcheroo on the state of Wisconsin, and Luminar's new LiDAR is poised to turn the autonomous vehicle market on its ear.
Las Vegas autonomous shuttle crash happened due to lack of manual control
Back in 2017, Las Vegas' self-driving shuttle service got into a minor collision after just an hour into its year-long trial. While it truly was a minor incident and nobody got hurt, the fact that an autonomous vehicle was involved prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to launch a probe. Now, the agency has wrapped up its investigation and has revealed two probable causes for the incident. First is that the truck that collided with the shuttle didn't stop when it was supposed to, which is consistent with the local government's claim after the accident. The other is that the autonomous vehicle attendant didn't have easy access to the shuttle's manual controller.
Bird strike may have triggered software issue in second 737 Max crash
Investigators might know what triggered the software panic aboard an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max before its fatal crash, and it could be something Boeing considered months earlier. Unnamed officials talking to the Wall Street Journal claim that US aviation overseers "increasingly believe" that a bird collision may have sent flawed sensor data, leading to the jet's anti-stall code automatically pushing the nose down. Black box recordings show that a sensor was "sheared off" or otherwise broken soon after takeoff, experts said.
Boeing says its 737 Max software update is complete
Today, Boeing announced that it has completed the software update to its 737 Max planes. The update is meant to correct the software flaws that contributed to the Lion Air and Air Ethiopia crashes that killed 346 people in total. The update was expected in April, but Boeing needed extra time to guarantee that it had "identified and appropriately addressed" the problems that led to those crashes.
NTSB says Tesla's Autopilot was active during fatal Model 3 crash
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report that Tesla's Autopilot system was active at the time of a fatal Model 3 crash in Delray Beach, Florida. Data showed the car's driver, who died in the March 1st incident, activated Autopilot around 10 seconds before the collision. In the approximately eight seconds before the Tesla crashed into a semi truck, the car didn't detect the driver's hands on the wheel.
Tesla sued over fatal 2018 Model X crash with Autopilot engaged
Last spring, Apple engineer Walter Huang aka Wei Lun Huang died in a crash when his Tesla Model X hit a median on Highway 101 in Mountain View while the car's Autopilot driving assist was engaged. Now ABC 7 News and NBC Bay Area report that Huang's family has filed a lawsuit against Tesla and the state of California. According to ABC reporter Dan Noyes, the lawsuit claims Huang's Model X was "defective" in its design, and blames the state for not making safety repairs on a safety barrier within the required amount of time.
US agencies investigate fatal Tesla Model 3 crash in Florida
American safety officials are looking into the circumstances surrounding another fatal Tesla crash. Both the NTSB and the NHTSA have confirmed that they're investigating a collision between a Model 3 and a semi truck in Delray Beach, Florida on March 1st. According to the police report, the truck was turning left to enter a main thoroughfare when the Model 3 crashed into the semi's trailer, shearing off the car's roof and killing the driver. It's not certain if Autopilot was active, although the Model 3 kept traveling for more than 500 yards before coming to a stop.
Tesla Model 3 rollover crash shows its real-world safety
While Tesla's Model 3 should be a safe car (this isn't the company's first try), it's hard not to feel nervous. Without official crash test results, how do you know how resilient it really is? Apparently, it's tougher than you might think. Reddit user StapleGun has recounted what might be the first rollover crash of a Model 3, and the new EV appears to have done a decent job protecting its lone occupant in what many would consider a nightmare scenario.
NTSB: Model S battery caught fire twice after Florida crash
It's not unheard of for cars to catch fire in a crash, but there are now instances of Tesla cars' batteries reigniting well after the fact. As part of a preliminary report on a Model S crash in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, NTSB investigators revealed that a piece of the EV's lithium-ion pack reignited twice despite firefighters dousing it with water and foam. It first reignited when crews were removing the car from the crash scene, and again when it arrived at a storage yard.
Prototype electric plane crash kills two pilots
An electric plane powered by Siemens has crashed in southern Hungary, killing both pilots aboard, according to Siemens and local reports. The Magnus eFusion aircraft was flown as part of an inauguration for Magnus' new headquarters, but crashed near the airport after performing several circuits, police said. The eFusion is still a prototype, but Magnus, based in Hungary, plans to eventually commercialize and sell it for around $200,000.
Tesla Model S in Autopilot collides with police SUV
A Model S driver in Laguna Beach has crashed into a parked (and thankfully unoccupied) police SUV while her EV's Autopilot was reportedly engaged, sustaining minor injuries in the process. It's not yet known what the driver was doing at the time of the collision, but the incident is once again raising questions about Tesla's role in educating drivers about its semi-autonomous feature.
Tesla crash driver admits to checking phone while in Autopilot mode
Tesla is facing another National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe after a Model S crashed into the back of a fire truck while Autopilot was on -- but only to gather info about the incident. While it may take a while before the NHTSA reveals its findings, the South Jordan Police Department has already shared a report based on the data logs Tesla extracted from the vehicle. According to those logs, the driver kept on taking her hands off the wheel and would only put them back for a few seconds every time a visual alert flashed. The cops gave her a citation after the logs were released, and she admitted that she was looking at her phone and stepped on the brake pedal merely a few seconds before she crashed into the truck.
Tesla insists Model X driver was at fault in fatal crash
When Tesla revealed that Autopilot was engaged during the fatal Model X crash in Mountain View, it only said that the vehicle's "logs show[ed] that no action was taken" even though the driver had time to react. Now, the automaker has issued another statement much stronger than that, saying that the only way the accident could have happened was if the driver (identified as Apple engineer Walter Huang) wasn't paying attention.
Tesla: Autopilot was engaged in fatal Model X crash
After a fiery crash in Mountain View, CA last week killed the driver of a Tesla Model X, the company provided an update on the incident with a blog post. It did not name the driver, identified by ABC 7 News as Apple engineer and former EA programmer Walter Huang, while confirming that its Autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the crash.
Tesla Model X driver dies in Mountain View crash
A Tesla vehicle is at the center of another tragic crash, and the company is coming under renewed scrutiny over safety concerns as a result. The driver of a Model X has died after his electric SUV collided with a median barrier on Highway 101 in Mountain View and was subsequently struck by two other vehicles. The incident destroyed the front half of the vehicle and sparked a fire that involved the battery, leading to Tesla sending an employee to investigate. Witnesses reported seeing a fireball during the crash.
Tempe Police release in-car video from fatal self-driving Uber crash
The Tempe Police department has released video (warning: this video may be disturbing to some) taken by the interior and exterior cameras of the Uber SUV that struck and killed a woman, Elaine Herzberg, on Sunday night. The video shows the immediate moments before the crash, and the police said that the Vehicular Crimes Unit is actively investigating.
Toyota halts autonomous car testing on public roads
Uber's fatal pedestrian collision is producing a ripple effect in the self-driving car industry. Toyota has temporarily halted public tests of its Chauffeur autonomous system due to the potential "emotional effect" on its human drivers. It's not certain how long the pause will last or whether this is prompting a review of Toyota's technology.
Apple updates all of its operating systems to fix app-crashing bug
It took a few days, but Apple already has a fix out for a bug that caused crashes on each of its platforms. The company pushed new versions of iOS, macOS and watchOS to fix the issue, which was caused when someone pasted in or received a single Indian-language character in select communications apps -- most notably in iMessages, Safari and the app store.
