Tesla driver tells police he was using the “self-driving system” when his car rammed a parked police vehicle

DETROIT (AP) — A Tesla apparently running one of the company’s automated driving systems collided with a parked police vehicle near Los Angeles on Thursday, narrowly missing an officer directing traffic in another crash.

The Tesla driver told police in Fullerton, California, that he activated the vehicle’s “self-driving system” and used his cellphone, a police statement said.

The collision appears to be another in a long list of accidents in which Teslas with a partially automated driving system have struck fire trucks or police cars parked on the street with their flashing lights on. In the Fullerton case, the officer had also set off flares, authorities said.

Police said the accident was still under investigation, but described the California driver’s conduct as a “clear violation of responsible driving practices and California law.”

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which ordered Tesla to recall its “Full Self-Driving” and “Autopilot” systems, said on Friday that it had been informed of the accident and had asked Tesla for further information.

Although the driver told authorities he had turned on “self-driving mode,” it was unclear whether he meant “Full Self-Driving” or Autopilot. Messages were left early Friday asking police and Tesla for clarification.

Neither Full Self-Driving nor Autopilot can drive itself, and Tesla tells owners they must be ready to step in at any time. Full Self-Driving, which is being tested by volunteer Tesla owners on public roads, can take over most driving functions, even on city streets, the company says. Autopilot is designed to prevent vehicles from colliding with objects in front of them and keep them in the center of their lane.

Fullerton police said the officer saw the Tesla coming and he and a police dispatcher riding with him were able to quickly pull over to the side of the road. “A potential disaster was averted,” the police statement said.

The Tesla driver remained at the scene of the accident, which occurred near an intersection at 12:04 a.m. Thursday. The driver is cooperating with police.

When the Tesla struck the police car, officers were investigating a fatal accident, authorities said.

“Although there are no laws against ‘self-driving mode,’ all rules and laws of the road still apply to the driver when operating the vehicle,” the statement said.

NHTSA began investigating Autopilot crashes involving emergency vehicles in 2021, but closed the investigation in April after Tesla agreed to recall the software and improve its driver monitoring features. NHTSA later began investigating whether the company’s recall actually worked.

In the documents justifying the closure of the investigation, NHTSA stated that it ultimately found 467 crashes involving autopilot, in which 54 people were injured and 14 people were killed.

In addition, the agency found 75 crashes and one death related to “fully automated driving.” It’s not clear whether the system was to blame. The NHTSA ordered Tesla to recall the software last year after finding that the system misbehaved at intersections and could violate traffic laws.

CEO Elon Musk said Thursday at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting that the safety of “fully autonomous driving” is better per mile than human drivers, but he did not provide complete underlying data.