Monmouth County, NJ Woman Almost Hit by Self-Driving Vehicle

It was a scary situation for a Monmouth County woman who was nearly struck by a driverless Tesla as she loaded groceries into her vehicle, her toddler daughter close by.

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I can't with robots. I just can't. I've heard a friend ask her Smart Speaker to ask her robot vacuum to clean her house. Telling a robot to tell another robot to do something. I also heard a story about a self-driving car colliding with a robot waiter on the Las Vegas strip in another robot-on-robot crime. More than one degree of separation between human and robot freaks me out.

Now, one of my all-time favorite movies is called Maximum Overdrive (starring Emilio Estevez and based on the Stephen King novel). Some sort of cosmic phenomenon causes all machines to begin operating on their own, leading to a blood bath. We're talking everything from tractor trailers driving themselves, to electric carving knives turning on its human user. It's not pretty.

But as technology evolves, I wonder just how far off we are from robots just taking over EVERYTHING. And, convenient as all this technology may be, it can't be reasoned with (just like the Terminator movie says).

So, back to this Monmouth County woman, who is identified only as 'NU' from Red Bank on Patch.com. Earlier this month, 'NU' was in the parking lot of Sickles Market with her young child, putting her purchased items into her vehicle when she says a Tesla with no driver behind the wheel almost hit her. She told Patch.com the Tesla seemed to be coming right at her. She reportedly didn't even hear it approaching because it was so quiet. Luckily, she'd just buckled her toddler into its car seat.

After realizing the vehicle has no human occupant, 'NU', who is also pregnant, checked to see where it was going next, and that was to the curb of the grocery store to meet its owner, according to Patch.com.

The owner of that Tesla probably didn't even realize what was happening. Happy, I'm sure, to not have had to walk groceries all the way to the vehicle, but accidentally obtuse, nonetheless.

Although Patch.com was unable to reach Tesla for comment about 'NU's encounter, a disclaimer on its website states: "All Tesla vehicles have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver," and "a driver can override any of autopilot's features at any time by steering, applying the brakes, or using the cruise control."

Have you ever had a close call with a driverless vehicle, or any other robot? Let us know in the comments below.

SOURCES: Patch.com via Gloucester Twp. Patch/Facebook

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