WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – A Tesla driver was killed and a passenger was seriously injured Saturday when the car crashed into a fire truck parked on a Northern California freeway to protect crews responding to another crash, fire officials said.
Four firefighters who were in the truck when it crashed on Interstate 680 suffered minor injuries, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Tracie Dutter said.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, Dutter said. The car had to be cut open to remove the passenger, who was taken to hospital.
Photos show the car’s front end smashed and the $1.4 million ladder truck damaged.
California Highway Patrol Trooper Adam Lane said it was unclear whether the driver may have been intoxicated or whether the Tesla Model S was operating with automation or driver assistance features.
The National Road Traffic Safety Office examining how Tesla’s Autopilot system detects and responds to emergency vehicles parked on highways. At least 14 Teslas have collided with emergency vehicles while using the system.
Dutter said the truck had its lights on and parked diagonally across the freeway’s northbound lanes to protect from the earlier non-injury crash.
The fatal crash happened around 4 a.m. and it took several hours to clear the highway. The fire truck had to be towed away.
The Model S was among nearly 363,000 vehicles recalled by Tesla on Thursday due to possible defects in the “fully self-driving” system. While the recall is aimed at fixing potential problems with intersections and speed limits, it comes amid a broader investigation by the US safety regulator into Tesla’s automated driving systems.
