Incident 52: Tesla on AutoPilot Killed Driver in Crash in Florida while Watching Movie

Description: A Tesla Model S on autopilot crashed into a white articulated tractor-trailer on Highway US 27A in Williston, Florida, killing the driver.

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Alleged: Tesla developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed Joshua Brown.

Incident Stats

Incident ID
52
Report Count
29
Incident Date
2016-07-01
Editors
Sean McGregor

CSET Taxonomy Classifications

Taxonomy Details

Full Description

A Tesla Model S on autopilot crashed into an articulated tractor-trailer on Highway US 27A in Williston, Florida killing the driver, Joshua Brown. The trailer was turning left in front of the incoming Tesla, and the Tesla autopilot system was unable to detect the white trailer against the bright sky. Cruise control was set at 74mph and did not slow before collision. The driver had his hands on the wheel for 25 seconds of the 37 minute trip and was watching a Harry Potter movie when the collision occurred. Before the collision, the driver received 6 audible warnings that his hands had been off the wheel for too long.

Short Description

A Tesla Model S on autopilot crashed into a white articulated tractor-trailer on Highway US 27A in Williston, Florida, killing the driver.

Severity

Severe

Harm Type

Harm to physical health/safety

AI System Description

The Tesla Autopilot driving system allows hands-off driving, parking, and navigation using environmental sensors, long range radars, and 360 ultrasonic.

System Developer

Tesla

Sector of Deployment

Transportation and storage

Relevant AI functions

Perception, Cognition, Action

AI Techniques

Tesla Autopilot

AI Applications

autonomous driving

Location

Williston, FL

Named Entities

Tesla, Joshua Brown, Tesla Model S, Tesla Autopilot

Technology Purveyor

Tesla

Beginning Date

2016-05-07T07:00:00.000Z

Ending Date

2016-05-07T07:00:00.000Z

Near Miss

Harm caused

Intent

Accident

Lives Lost

Yes

Data Inputs

360 Ultrasonic Sonar, Image Recognition Camera, Long Range Radar, traffic patterns

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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