A Tesla operating in partial Autopilot mode on Saturday plowed into a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser and a disabled vehicle near downtown Orlando.
The trooper operating the cruiser was not in the car at the time. He’d stopped to help the disabled vehicle around 5 a.m. and “narrowly missed” being struck, LHP Lt. Kim Montes told the Orlando SentinelOrlando Sentinel. The 27-year-old Tesla operator and the driver of the disabled vehicle, meanwhile, sustained minor injuries.
The weekend’s crash is under investigation; it remains to be determined whether the autonomous software caused or contributed to the incident. Tesla did not immediately respond to PCMag’s request for comment.
Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot system in response to 11 crashes that led to one death and 17 injuries. ODI’s “preliminary evaluation” is thought to cover some 765,000 vehicles.
Days later, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward Markey (D-MA) called on the US Federal Trade Commission to look into Tesla for possibly misleading the public about its self-driving technologies.
The automaker recently introduced a “Full Self-Driving Capability” subscription for $99 to $199 a month, offering assistance with steering, braking, and blind-spot monitoring. Tesla vehicles, however, are not fully autonomous, and an attentive driver still needs to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.
