Feds probe deadly Tesla crash into parked tractor-trailer at rest stop

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is investigating a Tesla crash that killed a California couple at an interstate stop near Gainesville, Florida.

The driver and passenger died when their 2015 Tesla collided with the back of a tractor-trailer parked on July 6, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. “For unknown reasons, the Tesla traveled to a parking lot toward a tractor trailer. The Tesla hit the back of the tractor trailer, where it was left on a permanent break,” FHP told CBS4 News on a statement.

The Tesla swerved to the truck lot in the rest area after exiting the freeway, then collided with a parked Walmart truck, with the front of the car below the trailer and its roof crushed by the ‘impact, the FHP said in its report.

It is unclear whether the driver’s autopilot function worked at the time of the crash, which killed Mary Lou Seelandt, 66, and her husband, Karl Seelandt, 67, of Lompoc, California. .

Declared dead at the scene, the couple had been on a long road trip that included their granddaughter’s first birthday in Georgia, according to a GoFundMe post.

Lawyers detained by the couple’s family said they were waiting for more information, including audio and video recordings of the collision, to better understand what had happened.

Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment.

Since 2016, NHTSA has opened three dozen Tesla special accident investigations in which driver assistance systems were thought to be used.

The agency reported last month that there have been 367 accidents with vehicles with driver assistance systems from July 2021 to May 15, 2022, with Tesla accounting for the majority, or 273, of cases.

Separately, a key executive behind Tesla’s driver assistance system has announced his departure from the company. “It has been a great pleasure to help Tesla achieve its goals over the past five years and a difficult decision to separate,” Andrej Karpathy, the company’s head of AI, tweeted on Wednesday. “At this time, Autopilot graduated from keeping lane in the city streets and I look forward to seeing the exceptionally strong Autopilot team continue that momentum.”