Tesla’s so-called self-driving software won’t stop for a school bus or a kid running from behind said bus, but despite that, the automaker is moving forward with plans to introduce robotaxis in Austin, Texas, saying it’s totally safe. One family in Pennsylvania may disagree, though, after their Tesla turned onto some railroad tracks before eventually getting hit by a train, WFMZ reports. Thankfully, everyone was able to get out of the car and move to safety before the train hit their car, and there have been no reported injuries from the incident.
According to the local Fire Commissioner, the car “was in self-drive mode when it happened,” which seems to suggest the driver was using either Autopilot or Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving” software, which, despite the names of both these softwares implying otherwise, they are merely a Level 2 driver-assistance software that still requires constant supervision because you never know when it’s going to mess up. Driving onto train tracks is a pretty bad mistake, but at least everyone survived. That isn’t always the case when Tesla’s driver-assistance software messes up.
The Tesla reportedly turned left onto the railroad tracks at about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and according to Western Berks Fire Commissioner Jared Renshaw, it “[w]ent down the tracks approximately 40-50 feet. They all exited the vehicle, got their belongings out.”
Hit by a train…technically
Typically, when you hear about a car getting stuck on the tracks and hit by a train, you expect the train to do some serious damage. In this case, however, it appears the Tesla was able to drive along the tracks for a while before getting stuck. A few minutes later, a train traveling on an adjacent set of tracks came along, taking off the mirror and causing little other damage. Still, authorities were reportedly worried that loading the car onto a flatbed would damage the battery, potentially starting a battery fire that would be difficult to put out, so they instead opted to bring in a crane to lift the Tesla off the tracks.
“We’ve had accidents involving Tesla’s [sic] that have been in vehicle accidents, but nobody has expressed to us that the vehicle was in self-drive mode when it happened,” Commissioner Renshaw said in a statement.
At least for now, we only have the driver’s word that they were operating the vehicle “in self-drive mode,” so it’s entirely possible they drove onto the tracks themselves and simply blamed it on the software. Even assuming Autopilot or Full Self-Driving was active, though, that still doesn’t absolve them of responsibility for the crash, since they’re the ones who let a Level 2 driver-assistance software make such a big mistake. Teslas do still have steering wheels, after all, and the car trying to turn onto a set of train tracks is definitely a situation where they should have intervened.
Teslas and train tracks
This certainly isn’t the first time a Tesla has driven onto train tracks. In fact, it’s happened several times before, and as you can see from this latest incident, no one at Tesla has done anything to keep that from happening since the first time it happened. They know it’s something the so-called “Full Self-Driving” software sometimes does, but for whatever reason, they still haven’t fixed it. It hasn’t exactly been years since the last incident, either.
Just last year, a driver in Woodland, California, let their Tesla drive onto some train tracks. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the incident did lead the local police department to issue a warning on Facebook, telling drivers, “Autopilot is an assistance feature, not a replacement for attentive driving,” and, “Always keep your hands on the wheel and be prepared to take control.”
Earlier this year, something similar happened when another driver let their Tesla turn left onto some train tracks in Santa Monica, forcing the driver to continue driving down the tracks until they found an exit. He was able to escape without being hit, but he reportedly had to run a red light to get off the tracks to escape an oncoming train before that happened.
Don’t worry, though. The Tesla robotaxis in Austin will totally be completely, 100% safe. No doubt about that.
