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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Ryan Fahey

Tesla on autopilot slams into £2.7million private jet before pushing it across Tarmac

A Tesla car on autopilot crashed into a £2.5million private jet after its owner reportedly tried to call for it using the vehicle's Smart Summon feature.

The collision happened at an event hosted by aircraft manufacturer Cirrus in Spokane, Washington, in the US.

Video shows the car slowly ramming into the aircraft and pushing it across the Tarmac.

The car is believed to have been in Smart Summon mode which caused it to slam into the multimillion-dollar jet.

The Tesla website said Smart Summon is "designed to allow you to move Model Y to your location (using your phone's GPS as a target destination) or to a location of your choice, manoeuvring around and stopping for objects as necessary".

The car slams into a $3.5million private jet (reddit)

It adds: "Smart Summon manoeuvres Model Y out of parking spaces and around corners. This is useful for moving Model Y out of a tight parking spot, through puddles, or helping you retrieve your car while carrying packages."

However, the company added there were multiple caveats to the feature.

It said on its website: "Smart Summon is a BETA feature. You must continually monitor the vehicle and its surroundings and stay prepared to take immediate action at any time.

"It is the driver's responsibility to use Smart Summon safely, responsibly, and as intended.

"Smart Summon may not stop for all objects (especially very low objects such as some curbs, or very high objects such as a shelf) and may not react to all traffic.

"Smart Summon does not recognise the direction of traffic, does not navigate around empty parking spaces, and may not anticipate crossing traffic."

Tesla says the feature helps Model Y owners to reverse out of a tight parking spot, or helping drivers to retrieve their car while carrying groceries (reddit)
The collision happened at an event hosted by aircraft manufacturer Cirrus in Spokane, Washington, in the US (reddit)

Smart Summon was first implemented by Tesla in 2019.

The feature, however, was met with disapproval after Tesla owners complained of property damage and multiple near-accidents from the driverless cars.

In February, the EV-vehicle firm recalled almost 54,000 of its self-driving vehicles due to a glitch which allows them to travel through stop signs.

The US company will recall 53,822 U.S. vehicles with the company's Full Self-Driving (Beta) software.

Tesla's Model Y - which costs upwards of £54,990 (HANDOUT MOTOR PR)

There were concerns some models could out "rolling stops" rather than coming to a complete halt at some intersections posing a safety risk.

The US's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the recall covers some 2016-2022 Model S and Model X, 2017-2022 Model 3, and 2020-2022 Model Y vehicles.

NHTSA said the feature may allow vehicles to travel through an all-way stop intersection - a US four-way stop is a traffic management system which requires vehicles on all the approaches to a road intersection to stop - without first coming to a halt.

Tesla will perform an over-the-air software update that disables the "rolling stop" functionality, the NHTSA said.

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