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Musk Fires Back Over ‘Super Messed Up’ Crash Coverage

May 15, 2018
A Tesla driver distracted by her phone crashed into a fire truck and suffered a broken ankle. That this is even news has CEO Elon Musk on the defensive, stirring up even more headlines.

Like Howard Beale in Network, Elon Musk is mad as hell at the media and he’s and he’s not going to take it anymore. The Tesla Motors founder and CEO used Twitter to air his grievances over the coverage of the latest crash in involving a semi-autonomous Model S.

A woman in South Jordan, Utah inadvertently rammed her black Model S into a fire department truck stopped at a red light at a speed of 60 mph. The Autopilot system, which uses sensors to assist in detecting nearby objects, was engaged, though drivers are required to always pay attention. The 28-year-old woman later admitted that she was looking at her phone at the time of the crash.

 The car’s hood crumpled to about half its original length, but the woman suffered only a broken ankle, according to South Jordan police Sgt. Samuel Winkler.

Reports by witnesses say the Tesla did not appear to slow down prior to rear-ending the giant red truck, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. That it was reported on at all is what irks Musk.

“It’s super messed up that a Tesla crash resulting in a broken ankle is front page news and the ~40,000 people who died in US auto accidents alone in past year get almost no coverage,” he tweeted on Monday.

About the Author

John Hitch | Editor, Fleet Maintenance

John Hitch, based out of Cleveland, Ohio, is the editor of Fleet Maintenance, a B2B magazine that addresses the service needs for all commercial vehicle makes and models (Classes 1-8), ranging from shop management strategies to the latest tools to enhance uptime.

He previously wrote about equipment and fleet operations and management for FleetOwner, and prior to that, manufacturing and advanced technology for IndustryWeek and New Equipment Digest. He is an award-winning journalist and former sonar technician aboard a nuclear-powered submarine where he served honorably aboard the fast-attack submarine USS Oklahoma City (SSN-723).