Hi. Bob Aldons, The Car Guy reporting on this story received overnight about a Tesla on autopilot.
I’m thinking that a Tesla is sophisticated enough to determine what mode the car was actually in. The driver suggests that she was in semi-autonomous mode, which in real speak was that she had the cruise control activated.
The Tesla that crashed into the rear of a fire truck is equipped with adaptive cruise control with emergency braking. It’s a commonplace feature in a lot of vehicles on the road in Australia, but that doesn’t excuse the use of a mobile phone when driving.
I’m not sure of the rules in Utah or other US states, but here down under, ‘stow the phone’ is a rule that shouldn’t be broken.
I’m pretty sure that diagnostics will reveal that the driver thought she was using the cruise control but time will tell. If it is that the adaptive cruise and emergency braking failed, then Elon and Tesla will be a whole new world of hurt.
“The driver was looking at a phone while the car was in Autopilot semi-autonomous mode
The driver of a Tesla Model S that crashed into a fire authority truck in Utah late Friday told police she was using the car’s Autopilot feature at the time of the accident.
In a statement, the South Jordan Police Department said the driver admitted that she was looking at her phone prior to the collision. The police said, based on witness information, the driver did not brake or take any other action to avoid the crash.
The Tesla was travelling at 60 mph when it hit the truck, which was stopped at a light.”
Bob Aldons is the owner and founder of The Car Guy, reviewing cars, reporting on Car Industry Matters, Car Tech and the world at large. He’s spent the last forty years immersed in the automotive industry from salesman to the owner of a 7 brand multi-franchise dealership. Bob knows cars.
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In Closing
My reviews aren’t based on power performance or high-speed handling capacity. They’re not based on 0-100 Kim/hr of 4.0 seconds. And they’re certainly not super luxury vehicles that many other “old timers” are feted on by the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin
Back when I started in the motor industry salespeople were schooled and skilled in a process called the road to the sale. Part of that process was a presentation of the car that the customer was ultimately considering,
The six position sell showed the features, advantages, and benefits as it related to that specific car in the eyes and thought process of that particular customer
Those days of a true car sales professional seem to have gone.
Nowadays it seems that all salespeople want to do is accept that the customer knows everything about the car they’re interested in, want to crunch the customer as quickly as possible and get the next sale
In my opinion, this is one of the reasons that there’s such a high turnover in salespeople in this industry of ours.
Now I think that I’m a car industry expert, not because I sell lots of cars, but, as I was taught over 40yeras ago, time sells motor cars.
The more time you spend with a customer, the more information you provide them and the more you’re there for them Even AFTER they take delivery of their new car, the more repeat and referral business you’ll get.
Typically second and subsequent sales only provide 10% of a car salespersons business. Referral business, where an existing customer refers a friend, relation or work colleague back tot eh selling salesperson as someone to trust and buy a car from is even less – probably 5%
So, if you’re a young salesperson reading this article, let me tell you that you should be getting 40-50% of your business from repeat and referral business.
And how do you get that much? Well, that’s a story for another article or an opportunity to join me in a training course.
Disclaimer
For your interest, my motoring reviews are my opinion of the vehicle I’m testing. The manufacturer or distributor, in this case, Kia Australia, doesn’t tell me what to write or ask for a ‘nice’ review. Nor am I paid for these reviews – I simply call it as I see it.
I often wonder about the ‘truth’ that I see from other motoring journalists. And I’m particularly referring to newspapers, online forums, and magazines where the company that owns the publication receives substantial advertising support from the various manufacturers.
Do the owners or editors tell their journalists to go easy on the review? I’m not sure, never having been in that position. Would I turn to softer reviews if my company was being paid for good reviews? Not likely. My independence as a writer is not for sale. I’d rather say no than be bought.
In any case, If that ever happens, rest assured that I’ll be telling that story with interest.
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/autonomous-cars/tesla-crashes-fire-authority-truck#ixzz5FhkAswpE
