We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. We do this to improve browsing experience and to show (non-) personalized ads. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Many years ago in a journalism class, we discussed the typical local news MO of “If it bleeds, it leads”. The Autopian likely wouldn’t cover the first fatality of any other car model either. Good call.
Without reading the comments, hats off to you all, respect. Leave the gory details for local news, that’s where it belongs. Having been someone who’s previous job it was to record and broadcast these events, please never go for the sensational like local news, wherever it is.
Thanks. You score big points for this
I’ve been interested in the autopian since it was announced and actually had a phone call with you and Jason. I was really floored after that phone call with the down to earth way you both carry yourselves and the genuinely good nature yall seem to have and have not only sought to instill in the autopian, but have been able to maintain.
On top of that, you guys have surrounded yourselves with amazing writers that I think show the kind of integrity in their writing and thoroughly entertain and/or enlighten (I specifically remember you saying that idea to me).
Thanks for what you guys do, thanks for showing respect to that guy and his family, and thanks for sharing the thought process.
David, Jason, Beau, and the team deserve credit for upholding ethical standards in a world where that’s increasingly rare, especially in politics and journalism. Kudos to you, gents, for staying the course.
This is why I give you people money. Thank you for your integrity and values. I come here because you only publish articles that serve a purpose. I don’t have a lot of time to spend here so I’m glad to fill it with quality, not quantity.
Well you could run an “Air Travel Still The Safest Form Of Transportation” type of headline, but I think that’s The Onion’s lane.
It would be like a headline for a story about a homicide in NYC saying “NYC still three times safer than Mississippi, Louisiana, or Alabama!” Actually I wish that were a thing.
And yeah, no photos unless it shows the cause, or it takes out a city block, or the there’s something unusual like the gigacasting melting into a storm drain.
Going to the junkyard and looking at a car and knowing that no one could have survived is bad enough, although these days it’s remarkable how mangled a survivable wreck can look.
As much as I hate the Cybertruck and everything it stands for, you made the right call. I certainly don’t want to see images of the scene somebody died in either. Thanks for keeping it classy around here, and for the insight.
Good call. One of the many things that makes Autopian great. No hat included please.
Good call. And thanks for the backstory of that decision.
Glad you didnt cover this, it shows some real integrity. Reporting on stuff like this really gets back to Don Henley and dirty laundry.
“Its interesting when people die, give us dirty laundry”
That being said if dude wrecked and died while Autopilot was engaged, totally different. Thats a whole different can of worms from a normal traffic fatality. Foisting unproven tech to the consumer that will kill you and has little government oversite is definetly newsworthy. But Tesla fumbled and doesnt even offer the Cybertruck with Autopilot so yeah just normal traffic fatality
I don’t think this crash was deemed newsworthy because it involved the Cybertruck per se. Rather, I suspect it was deemed newsworthy because people love to hate the Cybertruck. I don’t know how to use “schadenfreude” in a sentence, but that seems to be an appropriate term for what is going on here.
Thanks for not participating in this garbage. I found the explanation of your editorial decision making process interesting, though.
Bravo, superb, hooray, BZ, well done. I have just upgraded my subscription. As a former (photo) editor on a daily newspaper I still, forlornly, expect some kind of journalistic professionalism on the internet. I am almost always disappointed.
But not today. Thanks, David!
Thank you for both your decision not to participate in ghastly content-chasing, and explaining why you are not participating in it.
Well stated and you earned my $70 today. I used to investigate fatal crashes professionally from the engineering side. We want to learn everything we can from the incident. We know there will be incidents as there’s a lot of cars doing a lot of things. We’re eager to learn and stop repeat incidents. But a human was involved and we want to respect that human as best we can.
Engineers usually can compartmentalize and should be professional curious people. But we must ensure that our curiosity doesn’t offend or is sensationalized.
One of my pet peeves is clickbait. If there is no substance to an article, then it is simply a waste of people’s time and internet bandwidth. Kudos for not supporting that garbage.
Not statistically valid at all but does anyone else think CyberTruks are involved in a LOT of spectacular wrecks, mechanical mishaps, etc? My theory is the tremendous acceleration capability (0-60 2.6 sec) of these is not compatible with average driving skills.
In the context of this article, this question is about as useful as a poopy flavored lollipop.
Thank you for nor posting the news story. Tragic accidents involving vehicle happen daily. Let those that lost someone have some privacy. It’s the least we can do.
Fair enough.
That being said many of the “features” of the Cybertruck praised for their durability will work against you if the need to exit the vehicle in an emergency arises.
Ultra Thick Glass? Your window breaker ain’t going to work.
Ultra thick body panels? Jaws of life are gonna struggle if they work at all.
Ultra heavy doors? Good luck opening them if the vehicle is on its side and you have to fight gravity to get them open.
Sure a Cybertruck is probably one of if not the safest pickup in a crash for it’s occupants. However after the crash it’s basically a stainless steel prison cell with a built in self feeding fire that cannot be extinguished.
It’s something to keep in mind if you’re considering buying a Cybertruck.
Well done, what you choose not to cover is as important, if not more so, than what you cover.
I am a journalism major, and I wish more mainstream news outlets gave this kind of consideration to their reporting.
Hats off.
I believe the word you’re looking for DT, is “Integrity”. Through you and the writers, the Autopian has it. Not every site does.
This is why I’m a member. Keep up the good work.
Inside baseball indeed but nonetheless enlightening. Good to hear the thought that goes into covering/not covering something like this. Y’all made the right call.
That’s it. I’m getting all of my automotive news from Daily Mail and PC Mag Middle East from now on. They’re the ones doing the real reporting.
Really though, very well written article and I totally agree with the thought process. There is no substance in “Truck go boom, nobody know why?”. You’re either trying to prove EV’s suck because that’s what you believe, or just trying to get clicks.
I didn’t need to read any of this. Well done for not covering.
No need to use a death for clicks. Rise above.
Yep, when I saw the news in my feed, I knew the autopian wouldn’t have a piece on it.
I thought something may or may not show up here as the news article I saw had a quote about the overall safety of electric vehicles from “automotive industry reporter” David Tracy and I was like is there more than one DT who is in this industry?