Fatal Tesla crash raises questions on driver distraction, autopilot technical faults - KOMO News

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is investigating a fatal crash where the driver claims his Tesla was on autopilot when it fatally truck a motorcyclist.

The crash happened on SR 522 near Fales Road in Snohomish County on Friday around 4:45 p.m.

It’s still early in the investigation, and WSP is still trying to determine if the car was in autopilot as the driver says. There are also questions about whether the car may have somehow malfunctioned as it crashed into the motorcycle.

RELATED: Driver says Tesla was on autopilot when car hit, killed motorcyclist on SR 522

Investigation reports on the fatal crash say the Tesla driver involved told investigators his car was on autopilot, and he was briefly distracted by his cell phone when suddenly “there was a bang and the vehicle lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle.”

The driver of the Tesla also admitted to having one drink before the crash. Responding troopers conducted a field sobriety test, but didn’t find much evidence on scene to support a DUI charge. The driver was ultimately arrested for vehicular homicide involving distracted driving, but has not been formally charged yet so KOMO News is not naming him.

There may also be video showing the crash, including from the Tesla, as well as GoPro video from the motorcyclist’s helmet, which was collected as evidence.

KOMO News spoke with Ryan Calo, a UW law professor and information scientist who specializes in artificial intelligence and technology & law, to get an outside perspective on this issue.

RELATED: Tesla recalls over 2 million US vehicles to fix defect in Autopilot system

This isn't the first time that this has happened, and it won't be the last,” Calo said. “These cars are marketed as being on autopilot, and that suggests that the car is taking care of the driving, and so you can understand why somebody would not pay as close attention. I'm not excusing it, but it becomes more understandable why a person would be less likely to pay attention if their car is in autopilot mode.

“The way that it works today in Washington is that the idea is that people are supposed to be continuously monitoring the driving and capable of taking over,” Calo added.

Calo also warns about “edge cases” where the car encounters something on the road it can’t process, such as a motorcycle or pedestrian.

“There was a large white truck against a light sky, which was invisible to the system at the time, and so the Tesla just ran into the into the bottom and just basically went underneath the truck killing the occupant,” Calo said.

RELATED: Tesla recalls 362,000 cars with 'Full Self-Driving' software to fix flaws in behavior

While many may agree the Tesla driver is ultimately at fault in this case, whether autopilot was on or not, experts say there are other factors at play here, including how the autopilot feature is marketed to drivers, and if the feature is being used as it’s supposed to.

“This is really just almost putting a loaded gun in the hands of a kid,” Steve Tapia, a law professor at Seattle University who specializes in internet law and artificial intelligence, said. “It's just irresponsible for the company to go out there with this feature, knowing full well that people are going to use it and then tell people don't use it because it's not really safe.”

Experts say these cars may need to be taken off the road until the technology is fine-tuned, and companies need to re-think how these cars are marketed to the public.

We always have problems when technology runs faster than the law, and technology always runs faster than the law,” Tapia said. “Unfortunately, it takes something like deaths before people have enough urgency around it to make their lawmakers step up and try to figure out what to do with technology.

There are currently state laws in place governing the testing of automated vehicles for companies, but they don’t yet specify how the general public should be using these types of vehicles.

“We do have laws that do cover what you're supposed to be doing when you're in control of a car, which is that you're supposed to maintain your focus on the road and be aware of all conditions that are around you, and that clearly isn't what happened according to the allegations that we have in this case,” Tapia said.

According to jail records, the driver in this case posted his $100,000 bond and was released from custody on Sunday.

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