Autonomous driving critics were handed another example supporting their skepticism, as a Tesla Model 3 plowed into an overturned truck.
The accident occurred in Taiwan, on the National Highway 1. In video provided by a Twitter user, a truck is clearly overturned in the far left lane. Rather than braking or moving to avoid it, the Tesla continues toward it at full speed, with only a single attempt at braking shortly before the impact. Whether that was the Autopilot system or the driver attempting to brake at the last minute remains to be seen. Whatever the case, it was too little, too late.
In the second video in the Twitter thread, the Tesla is shown completely impacted into the roof of the overturned truck. Even more distributing, despite the crash occurring at reasonably high speeds, the Tesla’s airbag doesn’t seem to have deployed.
As Jalopnik points out, this isn’t the first time this kind of accident has happened, as Tesla’s Autopilot system seems to have trouble discerning large, immovable objects in its way.
Needless to say, Tesla will need to make some serious improvements to its system before Autopilot can be completely trusted.
