On Wednesday, May 12 the NHTSA announced that they were opening a probe into the death of 35 year old Steven Hendrickson whose Tesla ran straight into an over turned truck in Fontana California. Whether or not his Tesla was operating in self-driving mode (FSD) is an open question but the driver was known to be an enthusiastic user of his car’s self-driving features.
A few hours after the announcement of the NHTSA probe, Musk instigated a cryptocurrency war involving Bitcoin and Doge. Internet search engine optimization was primed to lose any mention of the death of a Tesla believer who love his FSD.
Two men in Houston Texas were burned alive by their Tesla less than 3 weeks earlier on April 17th. This was after the driver left a family gathering with the express intention of showing his friend how amazing his car’s autopilot was. Whether or not their deaths are attributable to Tesla, the horrifying fact is this.
Two men in Houston Texas were burned alive by their Tesla less than 3 weeks earlier on April 17th. This was after the driver left a family gathering with the express intention of showing his friend how amazing his car’s autopilot was. Whether or not their deaths are attributable to Tesla, the horrifying fact is this.
The car had a relatively low-impact accident. The witnesses and bystanders said there wasn’t even much damage to the car. The black husk aftermath which everyone saw in pictures afterwards was due to the car catching fire. The men inside didn’t die from the impact.
This was a low-impact collision that didn’t do much damage to the car according to witnesses.
They died from being unable to exit the car when the fire started. They watched the fire grow and helplessly were burnt to a crisp. It’s possible that the driver climbed into the back seat in an effort to kick out the rear window.
Tesla saw the Houston story go viral. A skeptical person would wonder if Musk isn’t somehow trying to suck the oxygen out of the internet by starting a crypto-war. His views on Bitcoin don’t damage Tesla’s reputation. But a 35 year old Tesla believer who loved his self-driving car who ends up getting crushed in it? That’s damaging.
Tesla saw the Houston story go viral. A skeptical person would wonder if Musk isn’t somehow trying to suck the oxygen out of the internet by starting a crypto-war. His views on Bitcoin don’t damage Tesla’s reputation. But a 35 year old Tesla believer who loved his self-driving car who ends up getting crushed in it? That’s damaging.
Some try to describe their Tesla as an ‘iPhone on wheels’. When your iPhone has a glitch, you might have your call dropped or see an app crash. Nothing too scary. But when your Tesla has a glitch you could end up getting decapitated or burnt alive. And what’s with all the Tesla’s running through store fronts? That seems to be an almost weekly occurrence.
Tesla defenders always use whataboutism to answer these accusations. They point to all the people killed in gas-powered cars. But it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Because per-capita, the rate of car fires and running through walls is much, much higher for Teslas.
In any event, Steven Hendrickson looked like a great guy judging from his social media. At the age of 35 he was just getting to see his kids grow up and he was thankful for all his success. But now he’s six feet under and his children are growing up fatherless. I sincerely hope his death wasn’t caused by Musk rushing out software that wasn’t ready in order to release that FSD revenue.
Tesla defenders always use whataboutism to answer these accusations. They point to all the people killed in gas-powered cars. But it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Because per-capita, the rate of car fires and running through walls is much, much higher for Teslas.
In any event, Steven Hendrickson looked like a great guy judging from his social media. At the age of 35 he was just getting to see his kids grow up and he was thankful for all his success. But now he’s six feet under and his children are growing up fatherless. I sincerely hope his death wasn’t caused by Musk rushing out software that wasn’t ready in order to release that FSD revenue.
RIP Steven
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