Accident in Fullerton
During the early hours of Thursday morning, a Tesla operating in "autopilot" mode collided with an unoccupied police car in Fullerton, as reported by the local Police Department. Fortunately, the incident did not result in any injuries, although body camera footage captured the dramatic moment when a police officer had to run to avoid being struck by the Tesla vehicle.
The collision occurred while the officer was managing traffic at the intersection of W. Orangethorpe Ave. and Courtney Ave. This incident occurred shortly after a tragic motorcycle accident, as revealed in a statement posted on Instagram by the Fullerton Police Department.
According to the official statement, the police car was clearly marked with its emergency lights activated, and several signaling devices were placed on the road to alert drivers. Despite these precautions, the blue Tesla failed to avoid colliding with the police vehicle, obstructing traffic in the area.
The quick reaction of the police officer, who noticed the approaching Tesla and managed to swiftly move to the side of the road, along with the cooperation of the accompanying police dispatcher, was crucial in preventing a more serious tragedy, as highlighted in the statement.
Although authorities have not disclosed the identity of the Tesla driver, they reported that the driver admitted to using their cellphone at the time of the accident, as reported by KTLA, a local news station that broadcasted images from the accident scene showing the damaged Tesla and the affected police vehicle.
This incident underscores concerns surrounding Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" technology, recently renamed to "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" to emphasize that drivers must remain attentive and prepared to intervene at any moment. Despite the company's efforts to defend the safety of its system, criticisms persist, especially following conflicting statements by Elon Musk at the shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas, where he insisted on the reliability of FSD.
So far, Tesla has not responded to requests for comments on the incident. This situation also highlights the importance of vigilance and driver responsibility, even when emergency lights are activated and the roadway is blocked, as concluded by the Fullerton Police Department in its official statement.
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