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Police are investigating whether semi-autonomous technology was being used when a Tesla electric car rammed ferry gates in Canada.
Two people have been injured after a Tesla Model 3 crashed into closed gates at a ferry terminal in Canada overnight.
It is yet to be determined whether the driver was at fault or if semi-autonomous technology was in use at the time.
Tesla has been under the spotlight of safety authorities following a series of fatal and serious injury crashes involving the controversial technology, which Tesla erroneously advertises as ‘Autopilot’ or ‘Full Self Driving’, even though the system requires driver attention at all times.
The crash at the ferry terminal in Canada is being investigated by local police, according to CTV News. The crash happened at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal near the Canadian city of Vancouver.
A spokesperson for BC Ferries told local media there was no vessel in the berth when the incident occurred, and the Tesla wasn’t attempting to board a ferry.
Sergeant Mark McLean from the West Vancouver Police Department said the vehicle reportedly accelerated towards the closed gates and was “effectively destroyed” in the crash.
“[The vehicle is] so high-tech that it’s going to be quite time-consuming to go through all the data and find out what’s going on,” he told CTV News.
In an earlier, separate incident, comedian and Porsche collector Spike Feresten alleged his Tesla Model Y accelerated towards closed gates while ‘Full Self Driving’ driving assistance was engaged recently.
“As [we were] pulling out to leave the gated community, the [traffic] light turns green but the gate was still closed – and it just drove straight at the gate,” Mr Feresten recalled in a November episode of his podcast, Spikes Car Radio, confirming he was forced to intervene before a crash occurred.
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“I had to stop the car. It could see the light but it couldn’t see the gate. It didn’t know what a gate was,” he said.
While Mr Feresten praised the software overall, he highlighted other issues he had experienced with speed humps and roundabouts while using ‘Full Self Driving’ software in Los Angeles.
The two occupants involved in the crash at the Vancouver ferry terminal reportedly received non-life threatening injuries and were transported to hospital for care.
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