A Tesla driver claims that Autopilot mechanically moved to avoid a head-on collision with a automobile within the fallacious lane on the highway.
The incident happened on Highway 49 near the Cabarrus arena in Concord, North Carolina last week.
Bret Peters was driving his Tesla vehicle on Autopilot when he felt the vehicle swerve and he didn’t know why.
He told FOX 46:
“I initially looked all the way down to see what was occurring with the automobile and why it was reacting or why it was braking. Once I looked up I saw the vehicle in my lane and before I could even put my foot on the brake it had began changing lanes,”
All the thing was captured on TeslaCam, Tesla’s integrated dashcam system using Autopilot cameras, and it shows that the vehicle within the fallacious lane began swerving off-road because it was getting closer to the Tesla, however the latter also moved toward the fitting lane to avoid the automobile.
Here’s the Fox report on the incident, which incorporates the TeslaCam video.
Peters, a former State Trooper, added in regards to the incident and the importance of Autopilot’s safety features:
“It’s sobering how dangerous it’s driving at night and I make that commute twice a day daily. It’s right at an hour each direction. That’s a number of miles and a number of time on the road and knowing that I actually have that safety feature is big.”
When asked in regards to the critics who say that Tesla Autopilot is a dangerous feature, like US Senator Ed Markey who’s pushing for Tesla to deactivate the feature, Peters said:
“Recover from yourself. Technology is quicker and more responsive and it’s being attentive even whenever you’re not.”
While it does concentrate when people don’t, Tesla makes it clear that drivers must be being attentive in any respect times when using Autopilot. They must keep their hands on the steering wheel and be able to take control at any time.
That is the most recent example of a Tesla owner claiming that Autopilot helped them avoid a potentially catastrophic accident.
We previously reported on a Tesla Autopilot safety feature helping save a cop who was running a red light. A Tesla Model 3 owner claimed ‘Autopilot saved his life’ by swerving away in a near-miss on the highway and one other similar incident was also caught on video just a couple of months prior.