RE: Advanced !12 Sep 2019 16:47
The 47-old man was at the wheel of the crashed 2014 Model S. He went for his interview with NTSB with the help of a lawyer, Daniel Geoulla, to whom he is probably related.
There, he claimed to have set his Autopilot for a top speed of 65 mph. Geoulla also said that Tesla put a misleading name in its “very good cruise control with a little bit more advanced technology in it.” He also said the fire brigaders failed to sign the road with cones or flares properly.
To be as fair as possible, the transcription shows he just claimed there was nothing to indicate a fire truck was on the HOV lane due to a previous accident. Daniel Geoulla is the one that says “there were no cones, there were no flares,” and Robin just repeats that: “There was (sic) no cones, there was (sic) no flares, there was…”
Geoulla – the driver – complains that Autopilot does not work correctly when driving towards the sun since its rays hit the cameras directly. He also says he only uses the system in straight lines. Finally, he suggests his car’s Autopilot system was never in full health:
“I think they changed my camera twice. They changed my radar, you know, that sonar – whatever it has in the front of the car. They changed that once because I told... For a few days, the Autopilot wouldn't engage and I took the car and they changed the camera. Once they changed the camera, one they said they had to calibrate the camera, and once they had to change the radar in the front of it."
What the witness said
Geoulla was probably not aware, but the passenger of a nearby Toyota Prius was paying close attention to him. “He appeared to be looking down at a cell phone or other device he was holding in his left hand.”
According to this witness, who had his name protected – despite being Mary Naylor’s fiancé – they noticed the fire truck on the HOV lane they were using. When they were moving to the right lane to avoid it, he “noticed a dark-colored vehicle pass by us in the HOV lane at a greater speed than we were traveling.”
Everything developing very fast. Anyway, the witness could see the Tesla driver “was very focused on his phone." He also said Geoulla "wasn't watching the road ahead at all, even though he was quickly approaching the stopped fire engine.”
NTSB states its investigators have analyzed Geoulla’s phone and concluded he did not use it for texting or talking. Anyway, “the records does (sic) not reflect information about manual manipulation of the device or the use of applications within the phone.”
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