Another Tesla Hits Another Semi From the Side - This Time It Looks Like a Model Y

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Another Tesla tragedy involving its vehicles hitting semi-trailers from the side. This time it is Tesla's newest model, the Y

Another Tesla vehicle has slammed into the side of another semi trailer. This time the Tesla appears to be Tesla's newest model the Tesla Model Y, although it is hard to be certain. We do not have any reports from police yet as to whether Tesla's Autopilot or Full Self Driving (Beta) technology played a role.

Related Story - This Prius Crash With a Semi Was Remarkable In That The Occupants All Survived

So many Tesla's have smashed head-on into slow-moving or stationary objects we have lost count. The last time we covered the topic the preventable Tesla crashes were coming two per month. Tesla vehicles operated not by an attentive driver, but rather the company's advanced driver assist technology have driven straight into firetrucks, police vehicles, and semis numerous times. Tesla's technology steers and controls the vehicle speed when enabled. Safety officials in the past have suggested improvements to keep the driver more engaged.

Regardless of whether the vehicle was being controlled by an occupant or the on-board "self-driving" technology really does not matter. Any modern vehicle with forward collision prevention and automatic emergency braking (AEB) should be able to prevent or reduce the severity of these types of crashes, and for some reason, Tesla's don't seem to be stopping or slowing like other modern vehicles do.

If investigators name the model or release information on whether the driver was in control or had ceded control to AP or FSD we will update the story.

Since this type of Tesla crash is no longer unusual, we have stopped using the crash images for our top-of page picture. If you would like to see images of a Tesla smashed under a semi-trailer with two occupants critically injured, you can do so at this link. The occupants are not in view.

Tesla released the latest update to its Full Self Driving system this week. You can view Elon Musk's tweet about that here. The timing is horrible.

Here are some prior stories that tell the same tale. A Tesla smashing into a solid object in a way that seems entirely preventable using commonplace modern technology like lane-keeping assist or AEB.

-Tesla Model 3 On Autopilot Hits Yet Another Police Vehicle - Why Won't They Stop?
- (August 2018) Third Tesla Crashes Into Back of Firetruck - That's Four Crashes Into Emergency Vehicles This Year
- (January) Tesla Police Blotter News - Tesla Driver Hits Parked Firetruck - Blames Autopilot
- Second Tesla Model S Slams Into the Back Of Firetruck - Occupant Says Car Was In Autopilot Mode
- Another Tesla On Autopilot Hits Another Emergency Vehicle - You Can't Make This Stuff Up
- "Stop This Nonsense": Tesla's Autopilot and Its Problems With Stationary Object Detection
- NTSB Report Eerily Predicts Tesla Model X Autopilot Fatality 6 Months In Advance
- Tesla Tries To Address Autopilot's Fatal Flaw Ahead of Full Self Driving Update

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. Following his engineering program, John also completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin

Submitted by David Radzieta (not verified) on March 15, 2021 - 11:10AM

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Looks like 3 Tesla fires last week too. One eas a nurn alive smd another pulled from the car and died just before burying into flames. Tesla needs to recall and replace all the defective batteries and replace them with safer longer lasting LFP batteries and they need to permanently disable FSD. Another Tesla rammed a Van yesterday in England.