02/13/2024

Tesla Worker Killed in Fiery Crash

This may be the first ‘full self-driving’ fatality

Hans von Ohain and Erik Rossiter were on their way to play golf one afternoon in 2022 when von Ohain's Tesla suddenly swerved off Upper Bear Creek Road. The car's driver-assistance software, known as "full self-driving," was struggling to navigate the mountain curves, forcing von Ohain repeatedly to yank it back on course.

"The first time it happened, I was like, 'Is that normal?'", recalled Rossiter, who described the five-mile drive on the outskirts of Denver as "uncomfortable." And he was like, "Yeah, that happens every now and then.'"

Hours later, on the way home, the Tesla Model 3 barreled into a tree and exploded in flames, killing von Ohain, a Tesla employee and devotee of CEO Elon Musk. Rossiter, who survived the crash, told emergency responders that von Ohain was using an "auto-drive feature on the Tesla" that "just ran straight off the road," according to a 911 dispatch recording obtained by The Washington Post. In a recent interview, Rossiter said he believes that von Ohain was using full self-driving, which, if true, would make his death the first known fatality involving Tesla's most advanced driver-assistance technology.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.