According to reports, Cambridge first collided with a Mini Cooper after running the red light, eventually losing control and hitting a man and his wife in a crosswalk on O’Farrell Street.
The man, identified as 39-year-old Benjamin Dean, was killed, while his wife Kelly is currently hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Cambridge has been arrested for involuntary vehicular manslaughter and for running a red light, both of which are misdemeanors, according to the San Francisco Police Department.
Officers from the department’s Traffic Collision Investigation Unit are working to determine whether the Tesla was in autonomous driving mode when the incident took place.
According to Tesla’s website, “All new Tesla cars have the hardware needed in the future for full self-driving in almost all circumstances. The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.”
Following the incident, advocacy group Walk San Francisco urged the city to improve traffic safety awareness by enforcing traffic citations and lowering speed limits, among other measures.
"San Francisco must become a city where dangerous driving is simply not tolerated, on any street, at any time," Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco, told reporters. "This is possible, but the city must act quickly and aggressively to move this direction."
