Joshua Brown was killed when his Tesla Model S electric sedan crashed into a tractor-trailer.
It’s posited that the self-driving feature of Brown’s Tesla didn’t detect the white side of the tractor-trailer and therefore did not apply brakes, but many questions remain about what went wrong.
Tesla released the “Autopilot” software update last year for a “public beta phase” to help improve the technology.
Without more evidence about what happened, there is concern that the incident could have a chilling effect on development within the autonomous driving industry. And the story has reignited a discussion in auto circles about what the best way is to proceed forward.
Guests:
Susan Carpenter, Co-host for KPCC’s The Ride, and the former car critic for the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register; she tweets from @CarpenterWheels
Mary Cummings, director of Duke University’s Humans and Autonomy Lab. She testified in front of the Senate Commerce Committee in March about the state of self-driving cars.