- A Tesla Semi rear-ended stopped cars at a Nevada red light.
- Two people died and a third has life-threatening injuries.
- Police suspect the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
A Tesla Semi rear-ended two passenger vehicles in Nevada on Sunday, killing two people and leaving another with life-threatening injuries, in what appears to be the first known fatal crash involving the fully electric truck. Early information gathered by the sheriff’s office at the scene suggests the driver may have fallen asleep, though the official cause has yet to be determined.
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The incident happened Sunday morning on US 50 in Dayton, Nevada. Two vehicles, one of them a classic VW Beetle, had reportedly stopped at a red light when the Tesla plowed into them from behind.
Two Dead At The Scene
The force of the collision and the sheer mass of the semi claimed the lives of the married couple, who were pronounced dead at the scene. A third person was flown to a local hospital and remains there with life-threatening injuries.
Both directions of US 50 were shut for a few hours while crews cleared the debris. Photos of the aftermath show the heavily damaged Beetle at the roadside, right next to the white semi that appears to have a broken front bumper. The other vehicle, a red Toyota RAV4 SUV, is left with a crumpled rear end.
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The accident is currently under investigation by the Nevada State Police. Preliminary statements obtained at the scene by deputies from the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office “suggest the driver of the truck might have fallen asleep,” though that account has yet to be confirmed by investigators.
The Semi is not available with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, but it does come with various safety features, including autonomous emergency braking, which is meant to help in situations like this.
The Tesla Semi is being manufactured at the Gigafactory Nevada, which is about an hour away from the site of the accident. The name of the driver and the operator of the semi truck have not been made public.
