A Tesla driver in North Carolina admitted to watching a movie on his phone while using Autopilot during a crash with a police vehicle.
Earlier today in Nash County, North Carolina, a Tesla Model S vehicle crashed right into a Nash County police vehicle. The vehicle was reportedly stopped on the road helping a Highway Patrol trooper reply to a previous crash.
The impact was forceful enough to push the police cruiser into the Highway Patrol trooper’s own automotive. This in turn pushed the 2 law enforcement officers to the bottom.
Fortunately, nobody was injured.
Listed here are a number of pictures shared by the NC Highway Patrol:
The Tesla driver reportedly admitted that he was watching a movie on his phone while his automotive was on Autopilot (via CBS):
“The Highway Patrol said the Tesla’s driver, identified as Devainder Goli of Raleigh, said he was watching a movie on his phone while the automotive was on auto-pilot when the collision occurred.”
The motive force has reportedly been charged with “move over law violation,” which requires drivers to maneuver over a lane when a vehicle is stopped to the side, and a “location of television in vehicle” violation.
The Model S was a pre-refresh Model S, which implies that it was likely using the primary version of Tesla’s Autopilot, which hasn’t been updated shortly
Electrek’s Take
It’s a miracle that nobody was injured on this accident.
The accident is paying homage to the very first fatal accident while Autopilot was on. A laptop and DVD player were present in the Model S, and there was evidence that the motive force was watching a movie throughout the crash.
There’s little question that it is totally irresponsible for the motive force to not listen.
Tesla’s Autopilot under its current form is a driver- assist system. You must at all times be being attentive and be able to take control in any respect times.
On top of it, the guy was watching a movie on his phone with version 1 of Tesla Autopilot. To be clear, I wouldn’t do this with the most recent software. With the unique version, I feel prefer it’s even riskier.
Anyway, it’s an excellent reminder to listen when using Tesla’s Autopilot, though it’s improving at a quick rate.