OT: How sad is this?
An Edina man who initially denied killing a small-town doctor in a hit-and-run near Lake Mille Lacs last fall told investigators that he didn't remember hitting the woman with his Tesla — but if he did, he would have been driving on autopilot and checking emails.
The disclosures came in search warrant affidavits filed Thursday and Friday by law enforcement officers asking for court permission to search the man's email account and data on his cellphone. They are investigating the death of 56-year-old Cathy Ann Donovan around sunset on Nov. 13 along northbound Hwy. 169, near the lake's south shore.
Suspicions about the 42-year-old man first surfaced in an affidavit filed on Jan. 30 that revealed his cellphone was in the area about the time Donovan was hit, a windshield wiper was on the pavement near Donovan's body, and his SUV looked like one captured on surveillance video footage on that stretch of the highway around the time of the crash.
Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton said then that "the facts … are significant" and added: "I think for sure we've established probable cause." Charges have yet to be filed, and the Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
The man's attorney, David Risk, said in an email Friday to the Star Tribune: "My client is inconsolable thinking that he was involved in the accident with Ms. Donovan, and he is heartbroken for her family, her loved ones, and the community.
"We are committed to finding out the entire truth about what occurred. My client voluntarily spoke to investigators, and he explained it is probable his car would've been using Tesla's full self-driving capability. He will continue to fully cooperate with this investigation until its completion."
Two weeks after the man denied hitting Donovan, investigators questioned him again. He "maintained that he doesn't remember hitting Cathy Donovan with his Tesla, but if he did, he would have been alone in his Tesla driving on 'autopilot,' not paying attention to the road, while doing things like checking work emails," according to the filings.
A team from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension also found light front-end damage to the car that an earlier visual inspection by authorities did not detect. The earlier affidavit noted that hair was collected off the SUV in three locations.
https://www.startribune.com/filings-tesla-driver-says-if-he-did-kill-mille-lacs-doctor-he-might-have-been-on-autopilot-distracted/600342407/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
This is absolutely grotesque. I am so not ready for driving on autopilot
This story is bull shit. You hit a fucking sparrow and you can hear it. A black bird sounds like you hit a bowling ball, a small mammal makes the vehicle shutter and a 140# deer absolutely scares the living shit out of you. No fucking way a sober person doesn't know they struck a pedestrian. Regardless he was the driver of record and auto driving or not he was in control of the vehicle and should be facing a myriad of charges that should have him imprisoned.
Once the lawyers get a hold of you in these Hit-and-Runs, people's memories get foggy. Did I hit something? I'm not sure. Blah, blah, blah.
You know god damn well you've hit a person when you hit them in a car. Anyone that's from the North and has driven at night/early morning in rural areas has probably hit a deer with their car at least once....I did it twice in high school and once with our damn snowmobile. Its not something you 'forget'.
He knew he hit her. I am sure thorough examination and evaluation will be done
This adds to the list of reasons that I growl every time a stupid GMC commercial comes on, showing their "hands off" cruise control. There is nothing impressive about urging drivers to surrender control of their vehicles to tech that is still in its infancy, still a long way from really being proven.
This guy would have had to been in an alcohol or drug induced coma to not know his car, therefore he, hit a pedestrian. I call total bullshit on his part.
@"Zanary" said: This adds to the list of reasons that I growl every time a stupid GMC commercial comes on, showing their "hands off" cruise control. There is nothing impressive about urging drivers to surrender control of their vehicles to tech that is still in its infancy, still a long way from really being proven.^^^
100% this.
F GMC for influencing people to drive that way.
I used to sell high-end Euro cars/suv's and I ALWAYS stressed to people those are assistance systems - not a capability for self-drive.
Those systems can help relieve some drive fatigue, but not drive for you. They got a long ways to go.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"Zanary" said: This adds to the list of reasons that I growl every time a stupid GMC commercial comes on, showing their "hands off" cruise control. There is nothing impressive about urging drivers to surrender control of their vehicles to tech that is still in its infancy, still a long way from really being proven. ^^^100% this.
F GMC for influencing people to drive that way.
I used to sell high-end Euro cars/suv's and I ALWAYS stressed to people those are assistance systems - not a capability for self-drive.
Those systems can help relieve some drive fatigue, but not drive for you. They got a long ways to go.
They are great assists, as I get older, the safety systems are great at keeping me aware and comfortable. Really have to remind myself to not get to comfortable with them.
@"purplefaithful" said:@"Zanary" said: This adds to the list of reasons that I growl every time a stupid GMC commercial comes on, showing their "hands off" cruise control. There is nothing impressive about urging drivers to surrender control of their vehicles to tech that is still in its infancy, still a long way from really being proven. ^^^100% this.
F GMC for influencing people to drive that way.
I used to sell high-end Euro cars/suv's and I ALWAYS stressed to people those are assistance systems - not a capability for self-drive.
Those systems can help relieve some drive fatigue, but not drive for you. They got a long ways to go.
I can't speak for all of them, but the ford one will scare the shit out of you if you happen to be passing a vehicle while crossing a bridge, it's not sure what large object it's more scared of and tries very hard to get away from them both by kind of shimmmying in between...at 85mph it's a wale up call.
The generational differences in these types of vehicles is fascinating to me
I have to imagine his Tesla recorded a ton of data on the incident. They are certainly going to have evidence that they were not in the wrong.
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