Another Tesla Seriously Crashed on Autopilot Last Week

Model X was traveling down the Pennsylvania Turnpike when it hit a guard rail and flipped.

byWill Sabel Courtney|
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Only one day after Tesla announced the first known accident-related fatality to occur in one of its cars operating under the auspices of its semi-autonomous driving systems, a Tesla Model X with Autopilot on was involved in a severe crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike several days ago. Both occupants of the single-vehicle crash survived, though the extent of their injuries is unknown.

According to the Pennsylvania State Police, the accident occurred at approximately 5pm near the town of Pedford, PA, roughly 107 miles east of Pittsburg. Pennsylvania state trooper Dale Vukovich, who responded to the crash, told the Detroit Free Press that driver Albert Scaglione said he had the Autopilot system on at the time of the wreck.

The official police crash report, filed by Vukovich, states that the 2016 Tesla Model X was traveling east on the controlled-access highway when it hit the guard rail on the right side of the roadway, veered across the east-bound lanes, and impacting the concrete divider between the easterly and westerly sides of the turnpike,. That impact flipped the SUV onto its roof, at which point it came to a stop in the center lane of the east-bound interstate

Scaglione, an art gallery owner from Southfield, Michigan, was traveling with his artist son-in-law Tim Yanke at the time of the accident. According to his gallery's website, Scaglione turned 77 years old on July 4.

Vukovich told the Detroit Free Press he would likely issue a citation to Scaglione once the investigation was complete, though the state trooper declined to say what the charges would be. There appears to be insufficient evidence at this time to suggest the Tesla's Autopilot system failed.

The accident occurred barely 24 hours after Tesla announced that one of its owners had died while driving a Model S on Autopilot when the car struck a tractor-trailer in Florida back in May. The NHTSA has opened an investigation into the Model S and its semi-autonomous driving systems as a result of the crash; however, reports suggest the driver, 40-year-old Joshua Brown, may have been watching a film on a portable DVD player at the time of the accident, suggesting he may not have been prepared to resume manual control of the vehicle as Tesla's Autopilot disclaimer requires.

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