Crashes

  • Tesla Autopilot

    In Tesla’s earnings call last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed a spate of crashes with cars using the automaker’s Autopilot system, noting that the crashes usually seem to involve experienced Tesla drivers who become complacent in using the system. On Monday, an article in the Wall Street Journal revealed, citing “people familiar with the discussions,” that Tesla had considered additional sensors such as eye-tracking cameras and sensors that can determine when a driver’s hands are on the wheel but rejected the suggestions, perhaps for cost but also because...

  • 2018 Tesla Model X
    Report: Tesla kicked out from official investigation over fatal Model X crash

    Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt called Tesla CEO Elon Musk to tell him that the automaker would be removed from an investigation surrounding a fatal crash in March that killed its driver, 38-year-old Walter Huang.

  • Tesla Autopilot
    NHTSA to investigate Tesla Model S on Autopilot that hit parked fire truck on freeway

    Investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are scheduled to examine the crash of a Tesla Model S that hit a fire truck parked on a California freeway. The driver claimed the Model S was operating with Tesla's AutoPilot functionality turned on, according to a tweet sent by...

  • 2018 BMW i3 and i3s
    BMW i3 electric car sales stopped, future recall announced for specific safety concern (updated)

    An obscure safety issue has led to a halt in sales of the BMW i3 electric car until further notice. The German maker announced a recall for every single i3 sold in the United States, covering 30,542 cars from the 2014 to 2018 model year. The safety issue that led to the recall and stop-sale follows...

  • Tesla Enhanced Autopilot
    Fatal Tesla Autopilot crash: 'system safeguards lacking,' says NTSB

    The Florida crash that killed the driver of a Tesla Model S while that car was operating under Autopilot software reverberated far and wide in global media. While human drivers are imperfect, with reaction times limited by millions of years of evolution, they at least provide a focus for blame if...

  • 2013 Jaguar XK 2-door Convertible XKR Air Vents
    Are Eco settings on cabin ventilation systems a safety hazard?

    As corporate average fuel economy requirements that started in 2012 continue to tighten, automakers have turned to an entire arsenal of tactics to reduce the fuel their vehicles burn. Downsized and turbocharged engines, transmissions with many more gears, lighter-weight structures, better...

  • 2017 Tesla Model S

    The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute has once again confirmed the Tesla Model S electric car is an outlier. While the Model S gets high ratings for its crash safety, it also seems to incur higher insurance losses than competing conventional cars. Higher claim frequencies, more costly repairs, and higher mileage all contribute to the Model S sedan losses. DON'T MISS: Waits for Tesla service get longer as more electric cars are sold The IIHS and HLDI compared the Model S not only to its gasoline-powered counterparts but also to other (lower-range)...

  • Tesla Autopilot
    Tesla driver killed in Autopilot crash ignored repeated warnings, NTSB says

    The National Transportation Safety Board has published its first findings after investigating a fatal highway crash in 2016 involving a Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer. The crash occurred on last summer after 40-year-old Joshua Brown was driving with Tesla's Autopilot engaged. The system failed...

  • Tesla Autopilot
    Tesla's own numbers show Autopilot has higher crash rate than human drivers

    A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Tesla’s claim that its Autopilot driver-assistance software is safer than a human driver. After a fatal Autopilot crash last May, the company said the death was the first in 130 million miles of Autopilot driving—and noted that, “among all...

  • 2016 Tesla Model S
    Tesla says Autopilot not turned on in Model X crash NHTSA is investigating (update)

    With details about a fatal May 7 crash of a Tesla Model S operating on Autopilot continuing to garner news coverage, more crashes with Autopilot engaged appear to be surfacing. Most notably, the NHTSA has said it will investigate a crash on Friday, July 1, in which a Tesla Model X ran off the road...

  • 2015 Tesla Model S 70D, Apr 2015  [photo: David Noland]
    Tesla Autopilot crash: what one Model S owner has to say

    The NHTSA has now said it will investigate two separate crashes reportedly involving a Tesla electric car operating with the Autopilot feature engaged. Media coverage on the May 7 death of a Model S driver in Florida continues to debate the merits of electronic driver-assistance technologies, often...

  • Tesla Model S Autopilot engaged during cross-country record attempt
    NHTSA to investigate Tesla Model S Autopilot crash that killed driver: UPDATED

    The NHTSA said it would open an investigation into a fatal May 7 crash in which a Tesla Model S running under Autopilot control hit a semi and passed under its trailer. The driver, later identified as 40-year-old Joshua Brown of Ohio, died at the scene of the Florida crash, which occurred after a...

  • 2016 Tesla Model X P90D after crash while owner was parking  [photo: owner 'Puzant']

    It happens every so often: a driver claims that a car accelerated out of control just before it crashed into something or other. Only in the last 10 years have automakers had data to investigate the claims, usually from a "black box" that captures a car's most recent few seconds of operating information. Electric-car maker Tesla Motors has taken data collection on its cars' operation much further, with cars that continuously transmit what they're doing (and where) back to the company. DON'T MISS: Tesla refutes owner claims of Model X 'sudden acceleration' before crash That capability lets it...

  • 2016 Tesla Model X P90D after crash while owner was parking  [photo: owner 'Puzant']
    Tesla refutes owner claims of Model X 'sudden acceleration' before crash

    It started with a post two days ago on the owners' forum on the Tesla Motors website. In it, an owner with the user name "Puzant" claimed that a five-day-old Tesla Model X electric SUV had accelerated out of control while parking. Yesterday, Tesla denied that claim, and issued a statement saying...

  • Tesla Model S caught in landslide
    Tesla Model S Saves Woman, Child In Landslide

    A Tesla Model S protects a woman and child during a landslide.

  • Tesla Model S 85D, 2015 Detroit Auto Show
    Tesla Model S Aluminum Body: Why Repair Costs Are Higher

    As more and more Tesla Model S electric sport sedans hit the road—50,000-plus at last count—some of their drivers are naturally starting to have accidents. They are bumping into other cars, colliding with deer, scraping telephone poles, and backing up into poles and trees. Their cars...

  • Smog in Hong Kong [Image by Flickr user inkelv1122]
    Do Auto Emissions Kill As Many People As Car Crashes?

    Researchers compare emissions-related deaths to car crashes, with ambiguous results.

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf in IIHS crash test
    Rhode Island Launches Hybrid-Electric License Plates For EMT Safety

    New license plates will mark plug-in cars for first responders.

  • Stolen Tesla Model S splits in half, catches fire after massive crash in LA area

    Tesla Motors is assisting Los Angeles police and fire departments in their investigation following the high-speed crash of a stolen Tesla Model S early Friday morning. Officers reported chasing the Model S at speeds of up to 100 mph before the stolen vehicle hit another car on North La Brea Avenue. The Tesla then collided with a light pole that split the car in half. The front half of the car caught fire when the battery pack ignited, while the rear half became wedged in the entrance to a building. Two passengers in the Honda also involved were admitted to hospital in serious condition, while...

  • Stolen Tesla Model S splits in half, catches fire after massive crash in LA area
    Stolen Tesla Model S Involved In Multi-Car Wreck In West Hollywood

    A stolen Tesla Model S was destroyed in a crash Thursday night following a police chase that hit speeds of 100 mph through West Hollywood. Several other vehicles were also destroyed in the high-speed accident and at least four people were hospitalized, in a crash that left the Model S split in two...

  • Road debris punctures a car's floor and rear seat
    How Dangerous Is Road Debris? It's THIS Dangerous (Video)

    You might have noticed a few recent high-profile stories about road debris puncturing the battery packs of Tesla Model S electric cars, causing fires. CEO and founder of Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA], Elon Musk, has remarked that despite these incidents, a similar situation would be far worse for...

  • BYD e6 Fire: Aftermath
    High-Speed Impact, Not Batteries, To Blame In BYD Electric Car Fire

    The post-impact electric-car fire which led to the death of three people in Shenzhen, China earlier this year was not caused by the car’s battery pack, crash investigators have concluded. The tragedy happened in May, when a BYD e6 all-electric taxi was hit early one morning by a speeding...

  • Massachusetts Electric Car Plate
    Is It A Hybrid Or Electric Car? In Massachusetts, Check The Plate

    These days, unless you’re an ardent fan of hybrid or electric cars, it can be pretty hard to tell them apart from their gasoline equivalents. For the average motorist it isn’t an issue, but for first responders attending the scene of an accident, it’s important to know what a...

  • G-Wiz charging in the U.K.
    Fatal G-Wiz Crash: Victim Was On Phone, Not Using Seatbelt

    We brought you news last year of a horrific accident, in which a woman was killed when her G-Wiz neighborhood electric vehicle, a model not sold in the United States, was struck by another vehicle. An inquest into the accident has now ended and the verdict has been given as accidental death. Last...

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