A Tesla was in its self-driving mode when it crashed into a parked patrol vehicle responding to a fatal crash in Orange County Thursday morning, police said. The officer was on traffic control duty…

A Tesla was in its self-driving mode when it crashed into a parked patrol vehicle responding to a fatal crash in Orange County Thursday morning, police said.

The officer was on traffic control duty blocking Orangethorpe Avenue in Fullerton for an investigation into a suspected DUI crash that left a motorcyclist dead around 9 p.m. Wednesday when his vehicle was struck.

A Fullerton Police Department spokesperson said the officer was standing outside his vehicle around midnight when he saw a Tesla driving in his direction and not slowing down.

  • @SludgehammerEnglish
    3•6 months ago

    IMHO it’s the flashing lights. I really think they overload the self driving software somehow and it starts ignoring changes in driving conditions (like say an emergency vehicle parked in the road).

    • Tiefling IRL
      8•6 months ago

      To be fair, police lights at night are so bright they give me migraines

    • @Geyser
      7•6 months ago

      I’ll bet you’re right that it’s the lights, but I don’t know about “overload” of anything.

      The problem with camera vision (vs human vision or LiDAR) is poor definition range. This means that pointing a light at it, like happens with emergency vehicle lights, can cause it to dim the whole image to compensate and then not see the vehicles. Same thing as when you take a backlit photo and can’t see the people.

    • @anubis119
      5•6 months ago

      Your Honor, exhibit A: It was all flashy and stuff.