Self-Driving Tesla Slams Into Police Car

Dashcam footage released by the California Highway Patrol shows a Tesla speeding into a closed freeway lane and ramming a patrol car with two officers inside, after its driver said he was asleep with the car’s self-driving system engaged.

The crash happened just before midnight on October 13 on eastbound Interstate 80 west of Air Base Parkway in Fairfield, Solano County, where officers had shut several lanes with flares and cones to investigate a separate fatal crash. The CHP said the Tesla entered the closed lanes at freeway speed despite the flashing emergency lights and struck the back of the stopped cruiser.

Both officers were seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Fairfield for treatment; the CHP said they are recovering. The 22-year-old driver from Sacramento suffered minor injuries. According to the CHP, he told officers he was asleep and that the vehicle was operating in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode at the time.

“Despite its name, Full Self-Driving is not fully autonomous,” the CHP said, describing it as a Level 2 driver-assistance system that requires constant supervision. “Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles.” Federal safety regulators said on October 17 they were investigating the crash.