Tesla rear-ends bus in Germany; driver blames Autopilot

Police in northern Germany say that a Tesla driver is blaming the car’s Autopilot after crashing into the rear of a bus on a highway.

But Tesla — which has been facing scrutiny after a spate of Autopilot-related incidents — says its semiautonomous driving feature was not at fault.

A Tesla spokeswoman said Thursday that the Autopilot system was on and functioned properly in the incident, based on conversations the company had with the driver and authorities. She said the system could not have prevented the crash because the bus swerved into the Tesla driver’s lane while the Tesla was next to the bus.

Ratzeburg police say that the crash happened Wednesday afternoon on a stretch of autobahn about 30 miles east of Hamburg. The Tesla driver was slightly injured.

Police said in a statement Thursday that the 50-year-old Tesla driver told officers he had used Autopilot. Calls to the Ratzeburg police precinct weren’t answered late Thursday.

Palo Alto-based Tesla updated the Autopilot software this month following a deadly crash in May. In that crash, a driver using the system was killed when his Model S sedan struck a tractor-trailer in Florida.