Tesla with Autopilot hits cop car—driver admits he was watching a movie

Enlarge / A law enforcement vehicle damaged in Wednesday's crash. (credit: North Carolina State Highway Patrol)

Police in North Carolina have filed charges against a driver whose Tesla crashed into a police car early Wednesday morning, Raleigh's CBS 17 television reports. The driver admitted to officers that he had activated the Autopilot technology on his Model S and was watching a movie on his phone at the time of the crash.

"A Nash County deputy and a trooper with the Highway Patrol were on the side of the road while responding to a previous crash when the Tesla slammed into the deputy’s cruiser," CBS 17 reports. "The impact sent the deputy’s cruiser into the trooper’s vehicle—which pushed the trooper and deputy to the ground."

Thankfully, no one was seriously injured by the crash.