Nothing's Perfect: Self-Driving Cars' First Casualty (Assignment date: 6-20-16)

          As technology has progressed so rapidly over the last several decades, it has been proven time and time again that no technology is perfect. A newly released article from the New York Times yesterday talked about a fatal car crash involving a self-driven Tesla Model S in Williston, Florida. It happened when a tractor trailer appeared suddenly around the corner and the car failed to put on its brakes, leading to a full speed crash. This incident is the first of its kind, and most likely the first of many as this technology slowly integrates itself into society. In Tesla's press release, they stated that the circumstances of the crash involved a light reflection that prevented the car's sensors from noticing the vehicle and brake in time. At the very tail end of the article, the author slips in at the last moment that Tesla has also elaborated that their self-driving technology is still new and requires that people view it as such. In the very last sentence of the article, it is stated that when the autopilot feature is activated, a box pops up in a digital display that explains that at this point in time the auto pilot is merely an assisting feature that still requires two hands to be on the steering wheel.
          No technology is perfect, especially the unfinished prototype self driving technology implemented in the Tesla Model S. This accident was a combination of both driver and vehicle failure. While the vehicle did fail to sense the tractor trailer in front of it, the driver of the vehicle also failed to follow the instructions provided by the system. The article also mentions how he had taken several videos of himself in his Model S while it was in self drive mode, with neither hand on the wheel, so it can be assumed that he most likely did not have his hands on the wheel at the time of the accident, it is also likely that he was not paying attention to the road as well in his confidence in the self-driving technology. While there are most definitely measures that can be taken to improve the technology, which most certainly is not far off, there will always be some sort of flaw in a technology that leads to possibly fatal consequences. However, as long as it reduces the overall number of car accidents in America, then the technology is worth investing in and using properly, which includes following all given directions.

Article Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/self-driving-tesla-fatal-crash-investigation.html?ref=technology