特斯拉最新致死案真相大白：自驾驶软件没能识别卡车的侧面

特斯拉公司的一辆Model 3卷入了3月1日发生在佛罗里达州的惨烈撞车案。美国国家运输安全委员会称，当时该车由半自主自动驾驶系统操控，而且驾驶员的双手脱离了方向盘。

美国国家运输安全委员会在上周四发布的一份初步调查报告中称，这辆车在德尔雷比奇与一辆横穿高速公路的半卡车侧面相撞，驾驶员当场死亡。美国国家运输安全委员会还表示，很明显，驾驶员在撞车前8秒的时间内并没有操控汽车。

报告称：“最初的车辆数据显示，特斯拉撞上半卡车时正在以68英里的时速行驶。初期数据或视频都未显示驾驶员或ADAS执行了规避操作。”

特斯拉的ADAS全称是高级驾驶员辅助系统。美国国家运输安全委员会调取的视频来自于现场附近记录了碰撞的监控摄像头，以及特斯拉用于帮助自身操控和执行其他功能的视频设备。

特斯拉在一封电子邮件声明中表示：“我们对这场事故表示深切哀悼，而且我们向所有受此悲剧影响的人表示慰问。”特斯拉称，公司在核查了汽车的电脑化数据日志后发现自动驾驶功能被激活，并将此事告知了美国国家运输安全委员会和美国国家高速公路交通安全管理局。

此次车祸是美国国家运输安全委员会调查的最新一起特斯拉车祸，而且与2016年的车祸有着惊人的相似之处，当时，一辆Model S撞到了卡车侧面，并未采取任何制动措施。

在那场惨烈的车祸中，美国国家运输安全委员会发现，特斯拉自动驾驶系统的设计对于车祸负有部分责任，而且向特斯拉和其他制造商提出了两点建议，以改善这类半自主自动驾驶工具的安全性。

美国国家运输安全委员会还发现，汽车感应器的设计初衷并未考虑识别卡车的侧面，因此也就没有对车辆减速。

前美国海军猎豹特种部队的约书亚·布朗在2016年3月的车祸中丧生，事发4个月之后，特斯拉的首席执行官埃隆·马斯克与记者举行了电话会议，介绍了新版的自动驾驶软件。他在当时表示，公司对驾驶员辅助系统的雷达组件进行了升级，升级后，感应器应该能够侦测到半卡车。

美国国家运输安全委员会有关3月1日碰撞的初步报告并未表明该车的感应器在车辆靠近卡车时都侦测到了什么。

安全委员会还调查了2018年在加州发生的另外一起与自动驾驶有关的车祸致死案。在该案中，Model X撞上了高速公路障碍实体，导致驾驶员死亡。

在事故发生之后，美国国家运输安全委员会的调查员还就多起自燃事件调查了特斯拉电池的运行状况。（财富中文网）

译者：冯丰

审校：夏林

A Tesla Inc. Model 3 involved in a March 1 fatal crash in Florida was being driven by the vehicle’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system, and the driver’s hands weren’t on the steering wheel, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The driver was killed when the car slammed into the side of a semi-truck that was crossing a highway in Delray Beach, the NTSB said in a preliminary report released last Thursday. The driver apparently wasn’t steering in the eight seconds before the collision, according to NTSB.

“Preliminary vehicle data show that the Tesla was traveling about 68 mph when it struck the semitrailer,” the report said. “Neither the preliminary data nor the videos indicate that the driver or the ADAS executed evasive maneuvers.”

ADAS refers to Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system. The NTSB used video from a nearby surveillance camera showing the collision and the video devices that Teslas use to help them steer and perform other functions.

“We are deeply saddened by this accident, and our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” Tesla said in an emailed statement. The company informed NTSB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the Autopilot activation after reviewing the car’s computerized data log, the company said.

The crash is the latest Tesla accident under investigation by the NTSB and is strikingly similar to a 2016 case in which a Model S hit the side of a truck without braking.

In that fatal collision, the NTSB found that the design of Tesla Autopilot system was partially responsible for the crash and issued two recommendations to the company and other manufacturers to improve the safety of such partially autonomous driving tools.

Among the NTSB’s findings was that the car’s sensors weren’t designed to identify the side of the truck and, therefore, didn’t slow the vehicle.

Four months after the May 2016 crash, which killed former Navy SEAL Joshua Brown, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk held a call with reporters to discuss a new version of the Autopilot software. Enhancements to the radar used as part of the company’s driver-assistance system likely would have detected the semi-trailer, he said at the time.

The NTSB preliminary report on the March 1 collision doesn’t spell out what the car’s sensors detected as the vehicle approached the truck.

The safety board is also looking at another fatal crash involving Autopilot in 2018 in California. In that case, a Model X struck a concrete highway barrier, killing the driver.

NTSB investigators are also probing how Tesla’s electric batteries behave after accidents following several fires.