A Tesla in Full Self-Driving mode killed a 71-year-old crossing a Vallejo freeway, CHP says; second FSD crash in Solano County in two weeks
Domingo Gonzales, 71, of Vallejo, was struck and killed at about 2:30 a.m. on Oct 22 while crossing westbound Interstate 80 at the I-780 interchange by a Tesla that the California Highway Patrol says was in Full Self-Driving mode, per SFGate and Bay City News (Oct 23). The car, operated by a 26-year-old San Francisco man, was travelling at about 70 mph when Gonzales, crossing from the right shoulder toward the centre divider, appeared in front of it, according to CHP's account of dashcam footage; he was then hit by at least one other, unidentified vehicle. CHP calls it the second major crash involving a Tesla in Full Self-Driving mode in Solano County in two weeks: on Oct 13 a Tesla whose driver told investigators he was asleep and using the driver-assistance system hit a stopped CHP cruiser on I-80 in Fairfield, disregarding flares, cones and emergency lights, and injured two officers. Tesla has not commented in the reporting; whether the system could have avoided a pedestrian on an unlit freeway at that speed is not established.
Damage
One pedestrian killed; two CHP officers injured in the earlier Fairfield crash
In their words
“Full Self-Driving does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to keep everyone safe.”
Sources
SFGate / Bay City News. Evidence confidence: medium. FSD engagement is CHP's statement, from the vehicle and dashcam, not Tesla's; the pedestrian was crossing a freeway at night, so the system's causal share is uncertain and the row is rated on the death itself (H=3) with autonomy at 2 (a bounded action inside its task). The Oct 13 Fairfield crash is folded into this row rather than scored separately; neither crash has an NHTSA finding yet.
Factor ratings and the score are this index’s judgments by a published formula; facts, dates and figures come from the linked sources. Where a lawsuit is pending, the summary reports allegations, not findings.
