Yesterday, the national media reported that NHTSA opened an investigation into what is considered the first death of a person in an automobile while in self-driving or autonomous mode. On May 7, 2016, a man was traveling eastbound on US Highway 27 in Florida in his Tesla automobile that was in autopilot or self-driving mode. A tractor-tailer with a white trailer was turning onto the highway. Reports suggest that the automobile’s autopilot crash avoidance technology was unable to distinguish between the white trailer and the sky and therefore did not apply the brakes and hit the trailer at full highway speed.
The Julian C. Gomez Law Firm is at the forefront of so-called self-driving automobiles and their crash avoidance technologies. If you or a loved one have been injured in an automobile, contact us. We may be able to help.
Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, and Forbes