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Tesla S 3-4 left exterior

Now it's making a little more than sense how a driver could possibly be watching a Harry Potter DVD when his Tesla on Autopilot crashed and killed him: Officials now say a portable DVD actor was found at the scene of the crash, though it's non yet clear if the device was playing at the fourth dimension.

The Tesla commuter, Joshua Brown, had his Tesla Model Due south in Autopilot manner when information technology struck and rode nether a turning truck May 7 in Florida. Brown was expressionless at the scene. Some, non all, witnesses at the scene said they heard or were told a Harry Potter DVD was playing.

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More than information, some of it conflicting

It has been more than a calendar month and a one-half since the accident, which only recently became a hot topic — which briefly coincided with a down day for Tesla stock — over the possibility that drivers were maybe doing ever-dumber things with their Teslas in the so-called self-driving mode, and also over the possibility that someone had hacked a Tesla to make it possible to play a DVD on the 17-inch center stack LCD.

The facts are a scrap more than mundane, according to an in-depth report from Reuters. First, the DVD player: Several witnesses said, and the Florida Highway Patrol confirmed, that there was a separate, portable DVD thespian in the motorcar, possibly playing a Harry Potter motion picture. One witness to the aftermath of the crash in Williston, Florida, said there was no movie playing, while another said a highway patrolman told him there was a Harry Potter DVD playing. FHP confirms a portable player was in the car, but won't annotate on whether there was annihilation playing. And then that settles nothing.

Brown, a 40-twelvemonth-quondam former Navy SEAL and something of a tech wizard, was the simply person in the motorcar. He was considered an electronics whiz, leading to questions over whether he might have hacked the auto interface to allow a video to play on the motorcar's LCD.

Tesla: Our cars don't play DVDs when the automobile is moving

Tesla has said in that location is no way a DVD video tin can be played on the 17-inch portrait brandish in the center sack. In that regard, Tesla is like every other automaker: There'due south an interlock to provide any video from playing in front end unless the automobile is stopped and in park, or in some cases with some automakers, creeping ahead at 3 mph or less.That applies to an integrated DVD player or an external AV role player that is outputting video (sound-only would be okay)./

The exception is Mercedes-Benz and its SplitView technology, using a Sharp LCD where alternate pixels are visible just to the driver and passenger, allowing the rider to encounter entertainment while the commuter sees, say, navigation maps.

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Autopilot only sounds like autonomous driving

Tesla is ane of the automakers at the forefront of what will in a few years be autonomous driving, where you tin relax and allow the auto drive for you. Right now, assisted driving, what Tesla calls Autopilot, is a collection of several technologies that make yous retrieve the car is self-driving, sort of:

  • Full-range adaptive cruise control follows the car in forepart up to a preset speed limit, at a preset post-obit distance, typically ii to 5 seconds backside. ACC all the same has problem with cars irresolute lanes merely in front of your car; information technology takes a nervus-racking second earlier it latches on and begins to open up space. ACC is a radar applied science.
  • Lane centering assist is an advanced course of lane departure alert, which does more than warn when you cross a lane or steer you away from the lane edge. It as well centers the motorcar within the lane, and can do that on well-nigh any curve you'll find on an interstate highway. It'due south an optical technology and is affected by pelting, snow, sunlight and glare, and faded lane markings considering of America's disregard for our infrastructure.
  • Blind spot detection warns if you start to change lanes when there'south a automobile approaching in the lane to your immediate left or right. Advanced systems will tug the wheel to keep you from changing lanes, though non so hard you can't override the car.

On most cars, these components work independently of each other. They require the commuter to keep his or her hands lightly on the wheel, more often than not to show the commuter is in the seat and could take over control instantly, if needed.

Normally, Tesla tells would-be buyers how awesome Autopilot is. (It is.) In the wake of the fatal accident where Autopilot was engaged, Tesla said, "[Autopilot] does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle and does non allow the driver to abdicate responsibility."

It's still unclear how Autopilot and the driver both missed a truck turning left, from a divided highway, into the Tesla'south path. Tesla said the white trailer may have been hard to distinguish from the bright Florida heaven that 24-hour interval.

The Tesla Model S, traveling around the 65 mph speed limit, evidently struck the trailer betwixt the trailer wheels and the tractor's (truck's) rear wheels. The windshield and roof were sheared off, and the remains of the Tesla continued under the trailer and so on for almost 1,000 feet past the truck.

The highway patrol said at that place was no dash camera mounted in the car at the time of the accident, although Dark-brown had earlier recorded videos of himself driving easily off.