Shocking Dashcam Video Shows Autopilot Tesla Crashing Into Emergency Vehicles

The Autopilot system present in Tesla EVs has become one of the line's most controversial aspects due to its recorded issues with collisions. According to statistics released this past June, it is estimated that there have been at least 736 collisions caused by Tesla Autopilot since 2019, which have also been directly associated with at least 17 fatalities. The precise reason for these various crashes is still under investigation, though based on dashcam footage recently obtained and reported on by the Wall Street Journal, there could be at least one alleged cause.

The footage obtained by WSJ shows a Texas police officer stopping a driver on the highway in February of 2021. While the officer is speaking to the driver, a 2019 Tesla Model X vehicle in Autopilot came up behind the emergency vehicles and collided with them head-on at 54 MPH. This incident resulted in five injured police officers, as well as intensive care for the stopped driver. This crash and 15 others are the subjects of an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), according to WSJ.

According to crash reports created as part of the NHTSA investigation, at least 6 of the accidents inolving emergency vehicles occurred while the emergency vehicles had their emergency lights on and flashing. This includes the Texas crash which was shown in the footage obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

Based on the dashcam footage from the Tesla vehicle, autonomous vehicle experts have speculated that, due to a combination of reduced visibility caused by the emergency lights and hazy conditions and the Autopilot system's own inability to recognize objects outside of lanes as cars, the Tesla vehicle may not have been able to parse the fact that there was an parked emergency vehicle in its way.

A major contributor to the Texas crash was the fact that, according to police reports filed afterward, the driver of the Tesla vehicle was intoxicated. Based on the driver's dashcam footage, they were driving for at least an hour, repeatedly removing their hands from the wheel while the Autopilot system was engaged. The Autopilot repeatedly reminded the driver to put their hands back on the wheel, which they did, but they would always be removed shortly after.

Neither Tesla nor NHTSA have publicly commented on the crashes or ongoing investigation. The officers injured in the Texas crash have filed a lawsuit against Tesla for the incident, which Tesla has alleged is the fault of the intoxicated driver.