A 56-year-old Snohomish man had set his Tesla Model S on Autopilot and was looking at his cellphone on Friday when he struck and killed a motorcyclist in front of him in Monroe, court records show.
A Washington State Patrol trooper arrested the Tesla driver at the crash site on Highway 522 at Fales Road shortly before 4 p.m. on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The motorcyclist, Jeffrey Nissen, 28, of Stanwood, died at the scene, records show.
The Tesla driver told a state trooper he was driving home from having lunch in Bothell and was looking at his phone when he heard a bang and felt his car lurch forward, accelerate and hit the motorcyclist, according to the affidavit.
The man told the trooper his Tesla got stuck on top of the motorcyclist and couldn’t be moved in time to save him, the affidavit states.
The trooper cited the driver’s “inattention to driving, while on autopilot mode, and the distraction of the cell phone while moving forward,” and trusting “the machine to drive for him” as probable cause for a charge of vehicular manslaughter, according to the affidavit.
The man was booked into the Snohomish County Jail and was released Sunday after posting bond on his $100,000 bail, jail records show.
Ah. Glad to know I can put a damper on my excitement for motorcycle riding season to be back…
Granted, this is possible with any car in any state. Just need to make sure I’m explicitly on the lookout for teslas driving behind me.
Be careful out there! I work in orthopedics and rehabilitation at my state’s only trauma 1 ward, and motorcycle MVA have always taken up spaces in the icu. However, since COVID there has definitely been an increase.
When I first started practicing the majority of bikers were in the icu because of their own behavior, whether that be unsafe driving or lack of protective gear. Now it seems everyone is getting mowed over at intersections by SUVs.
I think it’s a combination of more distractions for drivers, mixed with the ever growing size of American vehicles. We’re seeing the same with pedestrian injuries as well, vehicles are just too massive nowadays.
But it’s more likely in a car where the drivers may have been mislead into believing a myth that the car will drive itself safely without them.
If someone’s driving a Ford, they’d have to be certifiably insane to believe it’s ever safe to take your eyes off the road and hands off the wheel for long periods of time and expect to not have an accident. Insane to the degree they’d have never gotten their license.
If they’re in a Tesla, they just need to be a stupid consumer to believe that.
Blue Cruise from ford has autonomous self driving on some highways.
I’d wager the driver knew full well that the car does not drive without them. While it is a very poorly and marketing influenced name (“Autopilot”); unless this was the drivers first time using it, and had only used it for 5 seconds before the accident they new perfectly well what the feature was.
You have to try to game the car for it to allow you to take your hands off the wheel. It’s pretty sensitive to movements and if your hands are off the wheel you get visible and audible alerts before the car disengages the cruise control / lane assistance.
This seems like a case of a reckless driver who killed someone and is attempting to push blame or form some excuse for their negligence. The driver not paying attention to the road is the danger here, no matter what car they’re driving.
Tesla drivers are quickly taking #1 spot for worst human AND “ai” drivers
When I got my first motorcycle I was in love … until I had to ride on city streets with assholes. Got to the point I was happier hopping on the back of someone else’s bike so I could just enjoy the ride.
Highways were, and still are, the best rides tho.