Tesla in fatal Seattle-area crash that killed motorcyclist was in self-driving mode, officials say
The Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April was running on the car’s self-driving system at the time of the crash, the Washington State Patrol confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday.
The Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April was running on the car’s self-driving system at the time of the crash, the Washington State Patrol confirmed to NBC News on Wednesday.
The crash happened April 19 when the Tesla driver, a 56-year-old man from Snohomish County, was driving on autopilot behind the motorcycle on eastbound State Route 522 east of Maltby, the state patrol said.
The driver told authorities that he was looking down, distracted by his phone, when “the next thing he knew, there was a bang,” and the Tesla hit the motorcycle, said a statement of probable cause said, NBC affiliate KING of Seattle reported.
Jeffrey Nissen, 28, of Stanwood was ejected from the motorcycle and died at the scene, authorities said.
Chris Loftis, a spokesperson for the state patrol, told NBC News on Wednesday that the Criminal Investigative Division confirmed the vehicle was in "Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) mode" at the time of the collision.
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