Woman sues Tesla following Autopilot crash
SALT LAKE CITY A Utah driver who slammed her Tesla into a stopped fire truck at a red light earlier this year while using the vehicle’s semi-autonomous function has sued the company, saying salespeople told her the car would stop on its own in Autopilot mode if something was in its path.
Heather Lommatzsch claimed in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that Tesla salespeople told her in 2016 when she purchased the Model S that she could just touch the steering wheel occasionally while using the Autopilot mode. Lommatzsch, 29, said she tried to brake when she saw the stopped cars, but that the car’s brakes did not work.
The accident happened May 11 in the Salt Lake City suburb of South Jordan. Lommatzsch broke her foot and was charged with a misdemeanour traffic citation for failure to keep a proper lookout. The fire truck’s driver suffered injuries but was not hospitalized.
Tesla spokesman Dave Arnold said in a statement about the lawsuit that the company “has always been clear that Autopilot doesn’t make the car impervious to all accidents.”
“When using Autopilot, drivers are continuously reminded of their responsibility to keep their hands on the wheel and maintain control of the vehicle at all times,” Arnold said.
Arnold stressed that Lommatzsch was cited and that the final police report said she told police she was looking at her phone before the crash. Car data showed Lommatzsch did not touch the steering wheel for 80 seconds before the crash, the report said.
Data taken from her car showed it picked up speed for 3.5 seconds before crashing into the truck, the report said. The driver then manually hit the brakes a fraction of a second before the impact.
Police suggested that the car was following another vehicle and dropped its speed to 55 mph (89 kph) to match the leading vehicle. They say the leading vehicle then likely changed lanes and the Tesla automatically sped up to its preset speed of 60 mph (97 kph) without noticing the stopped cars ahead.
The Utah crash is one of several Tesla accidents that have brought scrutiny to its Autopilot, the company’s semi-autonomous system designed to keep a vehicle centred in its lane at a set distance from cars in front of it. The system also can also guide the cars to change lanes automatically.