Shipping tycoon Angela Chao was drunk when she inadvertently reversed her Tesla into a pond and drowned last month at a Texas ranch, police say.

Blanco County Sheriff’s Office found her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the state’s legal limit.

The 50-year-old died after dinner on 10 February with a group of friends at the estate near Johnson City.

Her brother-in-law, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, cited the tragedy in his resignation speech.

On Wednesday, Blanco County Sheriff’s Office released the findings of its investigation concluding Ms Chao’s death was an “unfortunate accident”.

  • @SchmidtGenetics
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    8 months ago

    You hit a pot hole on the highway and now you’re stopping in the middle of it.

    That’s why they don’t exist on vehicles, there’s lots of cases where they drop and still need to keep moving, while only a couple where it should stop, and in those cases it’s usually too late and won’t help.

    • @TechNerdWizard42
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      -18 months ago

      Well no, obviously there’s a maximum speed. Just like parking sensors have different distance warnings when driving versus parking.

      And on a Tesla with so much vision, it should really know the topography.

      • @SchmidtGenetics
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        8 months ago

        At speed is when you would need the active breaking…

        And great now my car stopped in the parking lot from every speed bump…,

        Can you provide a usecase where active breaking from a drop would actually help?

        • @theluckyone
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          28 months ago

          I’d argue for drop that extends across the width of the lane, or both. Couple that with a system that can penetrate heavy rain, and two truck drivers might have lived through a washout of Interstate 88 in Central N a few years back. They didn’t have much of a chance back then.