Car manufacturers and technology leaders are trying to outdo one another by developing their own self-driving cars.
The concept of making such type of vehicles has been fueled by the notion that modern super computers can control a vehicle better than humans. However, this idea is now in doubt after a Cantonese man died while driving his Tesla Model S sedan, in autopilot or self-driving mode.
It was announced on June 30 that a 40-year-old businessman identified as Joshua D. Brown was involved in car crash and was killed on the spot on May 7 in Florida. Brown was driving his Tesla self-driving car when his vehicle's camera was not able to recognize the white side of a turning tractor.
As a result, the Tesla car failed to activate its brakes and collided head on with the trailer. According to New York Times, the incident was the very first known fatal accident that involved a self-driving vehicle.
In February the Google autonomous car figured in fender bender with a bus, but luckily no one was hurt in the accident. During investigation, Frank Baressi, the driver of the trailer, recalled that at the time of the collision, the driver of the Tesla sedan appeared to be watching "Harry Potter" on the car's TV screen because it was still playing when Brown died.
Additionally, Baressi said that the car was fast, it bumped his trailer so quickly that he did not even see it coming. In contrast to Baressi's statements, Tesla Motors stated that watching videos on Model S cars' touch screen is not possible.
On June 30, via press release, Tesla team addressed the incident by explaining that "When drivers activate Autopilot, the acknowledgment box explains that Autopilot is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times." The team added that the driver must "maintain control and be responsible for their vehicle" while driving it.
They further explained that while in autopilot, the car constantly reminds the driver to keep his hands on the wheel and be ready to take over any time. Tesla emphasized that they incorporated these features so that using self-driving cars would be safe as possible.
At the end of the statement, the company extended sympathies to Brown's family and friends. Tesla's founder Elon Musk also posted a tweet to express his sorrow and condolences.
Brown uploaded a short clip where he shows a demo of driving in autopilot, see it below: