Teenagers blame crash into Flagler County patrol car on Tesla’s autopilot

A Flagler County sheriff’s deputy said he found no one in the driver’s seat and found just a 14-year-old and 15-year-old inside a Tesla that backed into his patrol car.

A deputy conducted a traffic stop on a white 2018 Tesla last Friday when he saw it traveling on the wrong side of the road after departing the WaWa gas station located on State Road 100 in Palm Coast, Florida.

The car came to a stop but then proceeded to back into the deputy’s patrol vehicle.

The deputy said that there was just a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old in the car. He added that nobody was behind the wheel.

The teenagers informed deputies they were traveling from Charleston, South Carolina, to visit one of the juvenile’s fathers. Both were asked who was driving the car and they said the vehicle was a Tesla and that it was driving itself in autopilot mode.

Deputies said they ultimately determined one of the teenagers was driving the car before putting it on autopilot, resulting in the crash.

Deputies said the driver’s mother was not aware of her daughter leaving the state and thought she was at her grandmother’s house.

The driver was given a citation for driving with no license.

“These kids are very lucky that no one was injured and their actions didn’t have more serious consequences,” Sheriff Rick Staly said.

“It doesn’t matter if you are driving a ‘smart car’, driving without a license is still against the law. I hope these kids have learned a valuable lesson and I am grateful that no one was hurt and only minimal damage occurred to their vehicle,” Staly added.