A fatal crash involving a Tesla Model S that collided with a fire truck has caught the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has requested additional information from Tesla regarding the incident.
The accident occurred in the early morning hours of February 18 on Interstate 680 in Contra Costa County, California. According to the county’s fire department one of their trucks was hit when it was being used to block a lane of traffic to protect first responders dealing with a previous accident. The fire department said the truck had its lights activated at the time of the collision.
Unfortunately the driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while the passenger and four firefighters were taken to hospital for injuries. Photos shared by the fire department on Twitter shows the Tesla involved in the accident was an older Model S. (via Bloomberg)
Slow down and move over when approaching emergency vehicles. Truck 1 was struck by a Tesla while blocking I-680 lanes from a previous accident. Driver pronounced dead on-scene; passenger was extricated & transported to hospital. Four firefighters also transported for evaluation. pic.twitter.com/YCGn8We1bK
— Con Fire PIO (@ContraCostaFire) February 18, 2023
The NHTSA did not confirm what information it had requested from Tesla, but it likely has to do with the agency’s ongoing investigation into Tesla and the role its Autopilot system has played in several crashes involving parked emergency vehicles.
That investigation began in August 2021 and initially involved 11 crashes since 2018. The number of crashes included in the investigation has grown since then, with the agency upgrading the investigation into an engineering analysis in June 2022.
