Automotive News: Tesla driver charged with killing motorcyclist

A 28-year-old motorcyclist died in Washington State on Friday afternoon because the self-driving software in a Tesla behind him decided to run over him.

A 56 tree-hugger who thought he was saving the planet with his electric vehicle, was commuting in his 2022 Tesla Model S when he activated the car’s camera-based advanced driver assist system and according to his statements to police, began looking through his phone.

With nobody paying attention to the car’s actions, the Tesla software ignored Jeffrey Nissen on his motorcycle and continued on at speed.

The car rear-ended the two-wheeler, Nissen was flung from the bike, and his life ended pinned underneath the tree-hugger electric car, where he was still lodged when police arrived to the scene.

The Tesla driver, who told police he was “putting the trust in the machine to drive for him,” was inattentive to the road in front of him, and was only brought back to reality when he “heard a bang as the car lurched forward.”

The tree-hugging Tesla driver, who is not named, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail with a charge of Vehicular Homicide. He posted a $100,000 bail on Sunday and will now have to contemplate killing someone with his planet-saving EV and whether it was worth it.

Tesla will claim that it isn’t culpable for the incident, as the official line is that its so-called Autopilot and Full Self-Driving software are “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and are prepared to take over at any moment.”

The company and its CEO, however, have knowingly engaged in public discussion describing the cars as “driving themselves” and the people buying these cars believe them. This isn’t even the first time a “self-driving” Tesla has run over a motorcyclist.