Tesla hits parked California police vehicle; driver blames Autopilot
The driver of a Tesla Model S crashed into an unoccupied, parked police vehicle in Laguna Beach, California, on Tuesday, and the driver told investigators the Tesla was in Autopilot mode at the time, police said.
The driver suffered minor injuries, Laguna Beach Sergeant Jim Cota said. He posted photos of the crash scene showing extensive damage to the front end of the Tesla and the rear side of the police vehicle.
Autopilot is a semi-autonomous technology that the company says is a form of advanced cruise control, and advises drivers to keep their hands on the wheel.
"Tesla has always been clear that Autopilot doesn't make the car impervious to all accidents," the company said in a statement after the accident. The company could not immediately confirm through data the driver's statement that the vehicle was in Autopilot mode.
This morning a Tesla sedan driving outbound Laguna Canyon Road in "autopilot" collides with a parked @LagunaBeachPD unit. Officer was not in the unit at the time of the crash and minor injuries were sustained to the Tesla driver. #lagunabeach #police #tesla pic.twitter.com/7sAs8VgVQ3
— Laguna Beach PD PIO (@LBPD_PIO_45) May 29, 2018
Several crashes and fire incidents involving Tesla vehicles this year has been a near constant headache for Chief Executive Elon Musk, who boasts that his company's vehicles are among the safest in the industry.
Earlier this month, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it was sending a team to investigate the crash of a Tesla vehicle in South Jordan, Utah. The driver was traveling at 60 miles per hour when the Model S smashed into a fire truck stopped at a red light, according to police.
Police in Utah said data from Tesla showed that the driver enabled Autopilot about 1 minute and 22 seconds before the crash. The report said she took her hands off the steering wheel "within two seconds" of engaging the system and then did not touch the steering wheel for the next 80 seconds, until the crash happened.
NHTSA is also investigating a fatal crash in March that involved a Tesla Model X using Autopilot that struck a highway divider. The agency is also probing the January crash of a Tesla vehicle apparently traveling in Autopilot that struck a parked fire truck. Both of those incidents were also in California.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also probing four Tesla crashes that have occurred since last year, including three under review by NHTSA.
Tesla's Model S owner's manual warns some Autopilot functions "cannot detect all objects and may not brake/decelerate for stationary vehicles or objects especially when traveling over 50 mph (80 kph)" and when a vehicle ahead of the driver "moves out of your driving path and a stationary vehicle or object is in front of you."
Reporting by David Shepardson
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Tesla hits parked California police vehicle; driver blames Autopilot originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 May 2018 19:15:00 EDT.
