A 71-year-old man died after a Tesla struck him on Interstate 80 in Vallejo, California, and its driver told the California Highway Patrol (CHP) that the car’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature was active.
CHP placed the crash at about 5:30 a.m. ET (2:30 a.m. PDT) Thursday, Oct. 22, near the Interstate 780 interchange. The 26-year-old driver from San Francisco remained at the scene and provided dash-camera footage, the agency said.
The man moved from the right shoulder toward the center divider, and the Tesla was traveling about 70 mph (113 km/h), CHP said. Its preliminary review of the footage showed the car slowing and steering left before its front-right portion struck him.
CHP’s initial account also described a possible impact from another vehicle while the man was on the roadway. No other drivers stopped, and the agency’s initial account did not identify the vehicle or specify whether that impact contributed to the fatal injuries.
Tesla describes FSD as supervised driver-assistance technology and says it does not make a vehicle fully autonomous or replace the driver. CHP’s preliminary account records the driver’s statement and describes the video review; it does not determine whether FSD contributed to the crash.
