The Autopilot feature was on in a Tesla that rear-ended a truck in Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY — The driver of a Tesla electric car had the vehicle’s semi-autonomous Autopilot mode engaged when she slammed at 60 mph into the back of a Utah fire repair truck over the weekend, in the latest crash involving a car with selfdriving features.
The 28-year-old driver of the car told police in suburban Salt Lake City that the system was switched on and that she had been looking at her phone before the Friday evening crash.
Tesla’s Autopilot system uses radar, cameras with 360-degree visibility and sensors to detect nearby cars and objects. It’s built so cars can automatically change lanes, steer, park and brake to help avoid collisions.
The auto company markets the system as the “future of driving” but warns drivers to remain alert while using Autopilot and not to rely on it to entirely avoid accidents. Police reiterated that warning Monday.
On Twitter, co-founder Elon Musk said it was “super messed up” that the incident was garnering public attention, while thousands of accidents involving traditional automobiles “get almost no coverage.”
South Jordan police said the Tesla Model S was going 60 mph when it slammed into the back of the fire repair truck stopped at a red light. The car appeared not to brake before impact, police said.
The driver, whom police have not named, was taken to a hospital with a broken foot. The driver of the fire repair truck suffered whiplash and not taken to a hospital.
“What’s actually amazing about this accident is that a Model S hit a fire truck at 60 mph and the driver only broke an ankle,” Musk tweeted. “An impact at that speed usually results in severe injury or death.”
The driver of the Tesla may face charges for failing to maintain the safety of her vehicle, which would be a traffic infraction, according to police spokesman Sgt. Samuel Winkler.