In the latest incident to raise safety concerns about Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature, a driver rear-ended a police cruiser while checking on his dog in the back seat, Connecticut cops said.
Two Constitution State troopers were waiting for a tow truck to help a disabled vehicle on Interstate 95 in Norwalk early Saturday when the Model 3 slammed into the back of one of their cruisers, Connecticut State Police said.
The electric sedan created by billionaire Elon Musk forged ahead and rammed the stranded vehicle before the second trooper brought it to a halt, police said.
The driver — who said he had the car on Autopilot and was making sure his pooch in the back seat was OK — was slapped with a misdemeanor summons for reckless driving and reckless endangerment, police said.
“Fortunately, no one involved was seriously injured, but it is apparent that this incident could have been more severe,” the Connecticut State Police said in a Facebook post.
Police believe the dog was also unscathed after the crash, said Trooper First Class Christine Jeltema, a state police spokeswoman.
The 33-year-old driver — whose car had “MODEL3” on its license plate — has a court date set for Dec. 19, police said.
Tesla’s Autopilot, which has allowed drivers to sleep and even film porn while driving, has faced scrutiny from federal officials in the wake of crashes that killed drivers using the feature in 2016 and 2018.
Drivers are supposed to keep their hands on the wheel when using Autopilot, which helps Tesla’s cars accelerate, brake and steer in their lanes but does not make the vehicles entirely autonomous.
But drivers can fool the system with tricks available on YouTube, such as shoving a water bottle or an orange into the steering wheel to keep the Autopilot feature on. One Massachusetts man slept while his Tesla cruised for about 14 miles, an incident that US Sen. Ed Markey cited when he called on the automaker to shut off the feature last month.
The system also raised eyebrows in May when a porn actress posted a video of her and her boyfriend getting down and dirty in an autopiloted Tesla.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the crash.