Tesla driver using autopilot mode charged with vehicular homicide in death of motorcyclist
A Tesla driver has been charged with vehicular homicide after a motorcyclist was struck and killed in Washington April 19, 2024, FOX 13 Seattle reports.
A Washington man has been arrested and charged with vehicular homicide after a Tesla in autopilot mode slammed into a motorcyclist, killing him.
The crash happened around 3:45 p.m. Friday in Maltby, Washington, according to a Washington State Patrol incident summary.
The Tesla Model S driver, identified in court documents obtained by FOX 13 Seattle as 56-year-old Carl Hunter, told first responders the vehicle in autopilot mode «lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle in front of him.»
The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Jeff Nissen of Stanwood, was pronounced dead at the crash site. Investigators say he was ejected from atop the bike before being run over by the Tesla.
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Photos of crash victim Jeff Nissen, 28, of Stanwood, Wash. (FOX 13 Seattle)
"[Jeff] was such a loving person, such a loving uncle. He loved his nieces and nephews," Nissen's sister, Jenessa Fagerlie, told FOX 13. «We were hoping someday that he would have kids, but he got taken too soon.»
Nissen would have turned 29 in June. Fagerlie said her brother hugged her and told her he loved her the last time she saw him.
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Jenessa Fagerlie speaks about her brother being killed in a crash with a Tesla operating on autopilot. (FOX 13 Seattle)
Court documents say the Tesla driver admitted to having one drink prior to the crash but passed field and blood tests. Detectives labeled distracted driving as the cause of the crash since the driver was using his phone at the
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