DUI Arrest after Tesla Hits CA Apparatus

Aug. 27, 2018
A Tesla possibly on auto-pilot crashed into a San Jose fire engine at an accident scene Saturday, and its driver was arrested for DUI.

Aug. 26 -- SAN JOSE, CA -- A Tesla crashed into the back of a San Jose fire truck on Highway 101 early Saturday, according to police.

The car was traveling about 65 miles per hour southbound on US-101, north of Coyote Creek Golf Drive when it collided with a fire engine that had stopped in the far right lane with its emergency lights activated just after 1 a.m. Saturday, according to a news release from the California Highway Patrol.

“I think I had auto-pilot on,” the driver, whom police identified as 37 year-old Michael Tran, told emergency responders, according to the news release. Police had not determined whether the car was in self-driving mode when it hit the back of the fire engine, as of Saturday night.

After Tran and his passenger were treated at a San Jose hospital for minor injuries, police arrested Tran on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and booked him into Santa Clara County Jail.

Firefighters with the San Jose Fire Department tweeted details of the crash from an unofficial Twitter account, saying, ‘For the 2nd time in recent months SJ FF’s escaped serious injury as a @teslamotors “Zero Emissions” vehicle slammed into the back of a #SJFD FireEngine."

___ (c)2018 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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