According to Tesla data shared by South Jordan police in a statement, the driver repeatedly engaged and disengaged Tesla's Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control on multiple occasions while traveling around suburbs south of Salt Lake City.
During this "drive cycle," the Model S registered "more than a dozen instances of her hands being off the steering wheel." On two occasions, the driver had her hands off the wheel for more than a minute each time, reengaging briefly with the steering wheel only after a visual alert from the car.
"About 1 minute and 22 seconds before the crash, she re-enabled Autosteer and Cruise Control, and then, within seconds, took her hands off the steering wheel again," the police report says. "She did not touch the steering wheel for the next 80 seconds until the crash happened."
The car was programmed by the driver to travel at 60 mph. The driver finally touched the brake pedal "a second prior to the crash."
Police said the driver not only failed to abide by the guidelines of Autopilot use but also engaged the system on a street with no center median and with stop lights.
Some automakers, such as Cadillac, have driver assist systems that only function if maps indicate that the vehicle is traveling on a route, typically a highway, that is compatible with a car taking over some driving duties.
The Utah driver was issued a traffic citation for "failure to keep proper lookout" under South Jordan City municipal code.