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Maryland woman says driverless-Tesla crashed into her parked vehicle, and then drove away

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Announcements | Technology
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A Maryland woman says she was sitting in her parked car at a local mall when a Tesla with no driver crashed into her vehicle, according to a news report from NBC Washington

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Tamara Meyer told the TV station. “I saw no one in the car. There was no driver, no passenger. It was an empty car that was driving itself into my car.”

The Tesla then scraped the back of her car as it pulled out and drove away, Meyer said. 

NBC Washington said the owner of the Model Y Tesla was using a Smart Summon feature on the app for the first time. 

“Smart Summon is designed to allow you to move Model Y to your location (using your phone’s GPS as a target destination) or to a location of your choice, maneuvering around and stopping for objects as necessary,” Tesla’s website says. “Smart Summon works with the Tesla mobile app when your phone is located within approximately 213 ft. (65 meters) of Model Y.”

The website says Model Y can be maneuvered out of parking spaces and around corners.

“This is useful for moving Model Y out of a tight parking spot, through puddles, or helping you retrieve your car while carrying packages,” the website says. “You must maintain a clear line of sight between you and Model Y and closely monitor the vehicle and its surroundings at all times.”

Tesla also notes that depending on market region, the vehicle configuration, options purchased, and software version a vehicle may not be equipped with Smart Summon, or the feature may not operate exactly as described. 

David Aylor, vice president for active safety testing, demonstrated using one of their Tesla Model 3 vehicles for NBC Washington. He explained how the Tesla owner has to continually hold a button on the app down for the vehicle to move. If the button is released, the vehicle will stop. 

The system is still beta and learning, Aylor said. 

Telsa’s owner’s manual says the vehicle’s cameras must be fully calibrated before using Smart Summons.

It says to calibrate, cameras require highly-visible lane markets in both the driving lane and adjacent lanes (at least two lanes over on each side of the vehicle). It says for best results, drive the middle lane of a multi-lane highway (ideally with at least five lanes) that has clear lane markings and minimal traffic.

Model S must also repeat the calibration process if the cameras are serviced by Tesla and in some cases, after a software update.

Tesla also cautions that cameras and sensors must be clean.

“Dirty cameras and sensors, as well as environmental conditions such as rain and faded lane markings, can affect Autopilot performance,” the manual says.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) recently launched a new investigation into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) feature that could affect an estimated 2.41 million vehicles.

ODI says it has identified four Standing General Order (SGO) reports in which a Tesla vehicle experienced a crash after entering an area of reduced roadway visibility conditions with FSD-Beta or FSD-Supervised (also called “Autosteer on City Streets”) engaged.

According to Reuters, there have been at least two fatal accidents involving FSD, including in April when a Tesla Model S hit and killed a 28-year-old motorcyclist in the Seattle area.

In October 2023, Reuters reported that Tesla shared the U.S. Justice Department had issued subpoenas related to its FSD and Autopilot systems. Reuters reported in October 2022 that Tesla was under criminal investigation.

In December 2023, more than 2 million Teslas were recalled over the OEM’s “Autosteer” and “Autopilot” features. The recall stemmed from an NHTSA investigation that began in August 2021 following crashes with stationary first-responder vehicles and Tesla vehicles that were operating with Autosteer engaged.

Earlier this year, NHTSA announced it had opened an investigation into the recall remedy after identifying 13 fatal crashes, in which “foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role.”

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Photo courtesy of jetcityimage/iStock

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