A Tesla Semi truck struck two vehicles stopped at a red light on U.S. 50 in Nevada on June 28, resulting in two deaths. The incident marks the first known fatal crash involving the electric truck. Investigators said the driver may have fallen asleep.
Deputies from the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash at the intersection of U.S. 50 and Traditions Parkway in Dayton at around 7:20 a.m. on Sunday, June 28. The semi-truck hit two passenger vehicles that were stopped at the traffic signal, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol and Lyon County Sheriff’s Office.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene. They were identified as Sergio “Boo” and Jennifer Villanueva, a couple known locally for volunteering with a dog rescue. A third person was flown to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Images from the scene showed a Tesla Semi, which is built at Gigafactory Nevada near Sparks. The company has only recently begun customer deliveries of the truck after years of delays, with a few hundred units now on the road.
The reported cause was the driver falling asleep, and the vehicle was under manual control. Tesla does not offer Full Self-Driving on the Semi, and it has not published details on whether the truck’s automatic emergency braking system matches that of its cars.
