A San Francisco Tesla driver allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian in Solano County early Thursday morning while his car was in self-driving mode, officials said.
The crash happened shortly after 2:30 a.m. on westbound Interstate 80 at the Interstate 780 interchange, the California Highway Patrol said in a Facebook post. Tesla’s in-car camera, which captured the crash, showed the pedestrian walking onto the highway from the right shoulder while the car was traveling 70 mph, CHP said.
The pedestrian, a 71-year-old Vallejo man, stepped “directly into the path of the Tesla,” according to the CHP, as he crossed the highway toward the central divide. Although dashcam footage reviewed by officers showed the Tesla braking as it turned left, the right side of the car struck the pedestrian, the CHP said.
After the Tesla crash, the pedestrian was lying in the traffic lanes and was struck by another driver, the CHP said. The driver of the second car did not stop and was not identified by authorities. The pedestrian was fatally injured and the driver of the Tesla, a 26-year-old man from San Francisco, remained at the scene, the CHP said.
Anyone with information about the Tesla crash or the second vehicle involved is asked to call the CHP’s Solano office at 707-639-5600.
Scott Heitman, a CHP spokesman, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the Tesla driver was not cited after the crash. However, the driver could face charges if the investigation reveals he was negligent, the Chronicle reported. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
The accident comes a week after another Tesla driver in California was involved in a collision while his car was in self-driving mode. On October 13, a 22-year-old Sacramento man reportedly fell asleep at the wheel when he crashed into a CHP vehicle, injuring two officers.
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