Tesla Video Footage From Severe Crash Uncovered By Hacker

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You may remember last year when we reported on the presence of a Model S P100D badge buried in Tesla’s software. It was uncovered preceding the release and announcement of the new battery pack size by the “hacker” Jason Hughes.

In addition to that achievement, Hughes has managed to pull video footage of various crashes from totaled Teslas … amongst other things. On the crashed video footage count, it seems that Hughes recently managed to extract video of the crash that Tesla discussed in one of its “customer stories” posted last year — a crash that saw a box truck rear-end and propel the Tesla into a semi truck transporting jet engines. The Tesla was then driven into an SUV and the median.

So, not a minor crash. Probably the sort that generally kills those involved. This perspective is corroborated by the fact that a state trooper at the scene told the Tesla driver: “We all thought we were rolling up on a fatality.”

The driver ended up with only “minor” injuries.

Anyway, here’s the video footage:

Autoblog provides some further background:

“He recently pulled Autopilot camera footage from a Model S P85D salvage in Maryland, which just happens to be from the same car from a customer testimonial about how the car saved the driver’s life. …

“Jason Hughes posted a GIF of the crash footage on Twitter, which brings to life the gravity of the moment just as much as the wreckage photos in the customer story. Hughes has also pulled crash video from other Teslas, including a collision with an Acura in an intersection, and one of a P100D, supposedly driven by a joyriding valet, hitting a stone wall.”

The footage is interesting, but I do have to wonder about the legalities involved. Who owns the footage captured by the Autopilot cameras? Does Tesla? Are the rights to the video captured by the vehicle coupled with the ownership of the vehicle itself?


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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