A Tesla Model X using Autopilot killed a Japanese motorcyclist in April 2018 when the car's sensors failed to detect parked motorcycles and pedestrians, accelerating into them while the driver was asleep.
On April 29, 2018, a Tesla Model X using Autopilot features including Traffic Aware Cruise Control, Autosteer, and Auto Lane Change struck and killed 44-year-old Yoshihiro Umeda on the Tomei Expressway in Kanagawa, Japan. Umeda was among a group of motorcyclists who had stopped behind a van on the far-right lane following an earlier accident. The Tesla driver had activated Autopilot and fallen asleep behind the wheel. When the vehicle the Tesla had been following slowed and changed lanes to avoid the parked motorcycles and pedestrians, the Tesla's sensors and forward-facing cameras failed to recognize the stationary obstacles directly ahead. Instead of braking, the vehicle accelerated from approximately 9 mph to 23 mph, striking the motorcycles and killing Umeda by running over his body. The Tesla also hit the van and other motorcycles. Court documents filed by Umeda's family allege this was the first Tesla Autopilot-related pedestrian fatality and claim the accident resulted from defects in Tesla's Autopilot technology, specifically its inability to handle uncommon real-world scenarios.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed