Safety advocates fear Tesla will face less accountability for car crashes under Trump
“Tesla has been overselling the effectiveness of its technology for years,” said Michael Brooks, the executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety. “And a lot of people buy into that. They’re kind of wrapped up in this belief that this is an autonomous vehicle, because it’s tweeted about that way.”
By Joel Rose
January 15, 2025
In April of last year, a distraught driver called 911 to report a crash in Snohomish County, Wash., outside Seattle.
“I hit a person on a motorcycle in my car, on the freeway, on the way home,” said the driver, who identified himself to the dispatcher as Scott Hunter.
Hunter was behind the wheel of his Tesla Model S, following a motorcycle in stop-and-go traffic, when the car ran over the motorcycle and its rider, pinning both underneath.
“I’m the driver. I’m not sure how it happened, but I am freaking out. So please get here,” Hunter told the dispatcher as he tried to summon help.
The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Jeffrey Nissen, was pronounced dead at the scene. Hunter, 56, was arrested for vehicular homicide. He told police he had been “distracted” by his phone moments before the low-speed crash.
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