Just days after two teens were killed in a dramatic, fiery crash involving a Tesla Model S in Ft. Lauderdale, on Friday night another Tesla sedan with a semi-autonomous Autopilot feature rear-ended a fire department truck while driving at a speed of 60 mph (97 kph) apparently without braking before impact, although as Associated Press reports so far police say it's unknown if the Autopilot feature was engaged.
The cause of the Friday evening crash, involving a Tesla Model S and a fire department mechanic truck stopped at a red light, was under investigation, said police in South Jordan, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The police added that there was light rain falling and roads were wet when the crash occurred.
"Witnesses indicated the Tesla Model S did not brake prior to impact," the statement said.
According to South Jordan police Sgt. Samuel Winkler, the Tesla's air bags were activated in the crash, and the Tesla driver suffered a broken right ankle.
Speaking to MartketBeat, Sgt. Winkler said that there was no indication the Tesla's driver was under the influence of any substance, and information on what the driver may have told investigators about the circumstances of the crash likely wouldn't be available before Monday.
The crash, in which the Tesla driver was injured, took place at a troubling time for Tesla, just one day after federal safety agencies - including not only the NTSB but also NHTSA - launched a probe investigating the performance of Tesla's semi-autonomous driving system, following the "horrific" Florida accident days earlier in which two passengers died after they were trapped in the flaming vehicle.
Even more ominously for Tesla, on Saturday Tesla competitor Waymo announced that Tesla's Matt Schwall has begun working for the self-driving car unit. According to Schwall's LinkedIn Bio, he had been Tesla's "primary technical contact" with both the NTSB & NHTSA, suggesting the company's troubles with government regulators may be set to escalate.
Schwall had been Tesla's "primary technical contact" w/ NTSB & NHTSA, according to his LinkedIn bio. https://t.co/MNOOTENcYW
Schwall's departure comes just hours after Tesla's chief of engineering, Doug Field, took an extended leave of absence from Tesla to "spend time with his family", at the most critical time possible for Tesla, just as the Model 3 rollout begins in earnest.
Police said they had been in contact with the National Transportation Safety Board about the crash. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said he didn't know whether the agency would get involved with the crash.
Meanwhile, in its latest broadside on Tesla, on Sunday morning the WSJ wrote a scathing critique of Tesla's autopilot, "In Self-Driving Car Road Test, We Are the Guinea Pigs", in which it questioned...