Tesla On “Autopilot Mode” Strikes Police Car In Florida

A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was nearly killed when a Tesla on “Autopilot mode” struck his police car while assisting a broken down vehicle on I-4 near Ivanhoe Boulevard in Orlando on Saturday morning. Fortunately, the officer was outside his car and dodged the oncoming Tesla. 

Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) tweeted Saturday morning that the “trooper stopped to help a disabled motorist on I-4. When Tesla driving on “auto” mode struck the patrol car. Trooper was outside of car and extremely lucky to have not been struck.” Attached to the tweet are several images of the incident scene. 

Happening now: Orange County. Trooper stopped to help a disabled motorist on I-4. When Tesla driving on “auto” mode struck the patrol car. Trooper was outside of car and extremely lucky to have not been struck. #moveover. WB lanes of I-4 remain block as scene is being cleared. pic.twitter.com/w9N7cE4bAR

— FHP Orlando (@FHPOrlando) August 28, 2021

It appears the passenger side of the Tesla sideswiped the officer’s car.  

The image of the police car shows the driver’s side was severely mangled in the accident. 

What’s important to note is that the Tesla driver had the Autopilot engaged during the accident, according to police. 

People commenting on FHP’s post are demanding that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) open an investigation into this incident which could’ve killed a law enforcement officer. 

Hey @NHTSAgov isn’t there an open investigation about this? How about we turn it off till the investigation is complete? @NTSB @FTC @SenMarkey @JenniferHomendy @SenBlumenthal @NHTSArecalls @NTSB_Newsroom

— SnazzyG (@kelloggsboss) August 28, 2021

Others ask NHTSA:

When does someone stop this shit with the Teslas crashing into police cars or firetrucks….

Where the fuck is the @NHTSAgov ?

— fanatic (@fanaticHH) August 28, 2021

Someone makes a good point:

The company claims that this AutoPilot (also known as Full Self Driving) is 10x safer than human drivers.

The citation ticket fee should be 10x the price of what a typical car should be paying for this accident and their insurance company needs to cover the costs of the polcar.

— Bonaire (@BonaireVolt) August 28, 2021

The NHTSA recently said it had opened a formal investigation into the company’s Autopilot feature. It said it is opening a probe into Tesla’s Model X, S, and 3 for model years 2014-2021. The broad range of models and model years means that this could be the broad investigation that Tesla skeptics have been requesting for years. 

Even Tesla founder Elon Musk doubts Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” Beta version 9.2, calling it “actually not great” in a casual conversation on Twitter.

Website Tesla Deaths has kept track of all Tesla fatalities and Tesla accident deaths over the years.