A Tesla Model S reportedly operating in “Autopilot” mode slammed into the back of a fire truck as it was attending to an accident on a freeway in California. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Tuesday that it has sent two investigators to probe the crash and determine who was at fault. The agency will focus on “driver actions and how the vehicle performed” when assessing the case.

The board said it was still gathering information about the incident, namely, whether the “Autopilot” feature was engaged when the accident took place and whether the driver was ignoring any warnings. The car struck the firetruck around 8:30am Monday on Interstate 450 in Culver City, California. A union representing the firefighters claimed in a tweet that the driver said his car was in Autopilot mode. The group included photos showing significant damage to both vehicles. The firetruck was taken out of service for repairs. Fortunately, no one was injured.

“Amazingly there were no injuries!” the union tweeted. “Please stay alert while driving!”

While working a freeway accident this morning, Engine 42 was struck by a #Tesla traveling at 65 mph. The driver reports the vehicle was on autopilot. Amazingly there were no injuries! Please stay alert while driving! #abc7eyewitness #ktla #CulverCity #distracteddriving pic.twitter.com/RgEmd43tNe

— Culver City Firefighters (@CC_Firefighters) January 22, 2018

Tesla responded by reiterating that its poorly named “Autopilot” feature is not capable of full-autonomous driving.

“Autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver,” a Tesla spokesperson told Jalopnik.

The California Highway Patrol and Culver City Fire Department told the San Jose Mercury News that the EV had rear-ended the truck, which was blocking the emergency or carpool lane at the scene of a previous accident. It couldn’t confirm whether it was in Autopilot mode.

Tesla’s Autopilot is a driver-assist system that includes lane assist and adaptive cruise control. Given its name and how Tesla advertises its vehicles as having “full self-driving hardware,” it’s not hard to see why people believe their electric cars are fully autonomous. The German government even urged Tesla to rename its Autopilot system and for owners to learn about the capabilities of their vehicle. To its credit, Tesla has included safety features that warn drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and pay attention to the road.

In 2016, the NTSB investigated the first fatal crash in a “self-driving” car. It released a 500-page report last year that revealed former Navy SEAL Joshua Brown, 40, kept his hands off the wheel of his Tesla for extended periods of time despite warnings from the automated system. The autopilot system in his EV failed to recognize the white side of a truck against a bright sky and crashed into it at 74 miles per hour.

Tesla gave a similar response at the time of the accident: “ is an assist feature that requires you to keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times… you need to maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle while using it.”

The Tesla incident comes days after an accident surfaced involving a Chevy Bolt, GM’s answer to the Tesla Model 3. GM is being sued by a motorcyclist, who claims the electric vehicle was operating in autonomous mode (what GM calls Cruise Automation technology) when it “suddenly veered back into lane, striking and knocking him to the ground.”

However, a report from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) blames the motorcyclist.

“The motorcyclist was determined to be at fault for attempting to overtake and pass another vehicle on the right under conditions that did not permit that movement in safety,” the DMV wrote in a report.

GM recently revealed its intentions to release a self-driving car without a steering wheel by the end of next year. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says level five self-driving cars are about two years away.

The steering wheel may become obsolete sooner than we expected.

GM is asking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for permission to test autonomous vehicles without steering wheels by 2019. The automaker has been testing its self-driving Chevy Bolt on the streets of San Francisco and Phoenix.

Its plans for the fourth-generation model, aka the Cruise AV (yes Cruise, not Cruze), are radical: No steering wheel, no pedals, no manual controls, and no driver. They also won’t have an owner since GM will deploy its self-driving car for ride-hailing, not personal use.

In its proposal, GM asks the administration for alternative ways to meet the 16 federal driver-based requirements for operating on public roads. If granted, the automaker would have an easier time deploying its vehicles in cities throughout the U.S., though it would still need approval on a state level. Currently only seven states—Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, and Nevada—allow for testing vehicles without steering wheels or pedals.

GM said in a safety report that it’s working with industry groups to “advance the safety of self-driving vehicle technology.”

The announcement comes on the final day of the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where dozens of tech and auto companies showed off plans to enable a self-driving future. Unlike some vehicles coming out of the electronics show, GM’s vision looks rather ordinary, a natural transition from today’s vehicles. As you can see in this concept video, the interior of the self-driving Bolt, or Cruise EV, looks nothing like the futuristic Byton or other over-the-top concepts we’ve seen over the years.

Without the need for a steering wheel or pedal, we wonder whether GM could take things a step further. Why do the seats need to face forward? Why is there still a center console between the driver and passenger? Why is the infotainment screen still in the center?

That said, this is a step in the right direction, and after all the failed concepts we’ve seen, a more practical approach may just what the industry needs. We expect to hear a lot more about the Cruise EV during the Detroit Auto Show next week.

H/T Recode

Domino’s and Ford are partnering up for a test run of self-driving pizza delivery vehicles in Michigan. The pilot will be an important test in seeing how customers react to self-driving vehicles, and how the future of food delivery should look.

Kicking off exclusively in Ann Arbor, Domino’s will randomly select customers to try out the new delivery method. Once selected, customers will then have the chance to opt in to autonomous vehicle deliveries (just in case they’re uncomfortable with the idea of self-driving pizza delivery, we assume). In fact the Ford Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Cars being used in the test will not be unmanned. A Ford safety engineer will be behind the wheel, as well as other researchers.

If they agree to participate, customers will then be able to track their delivery vehicle’s progress with an upgraded version of the Domino’s Tracker app. They’ll get text message alerts as the self-driving car approaches their home, along with instructions for how to retrieve their pizza. Being an autonomous car, however, there won’t be a human delivery driver who brings the pizza to your doorstep. Instead, pizza fiends will need to step outside their house and use a unique code to unlock the Domino’s Heatwave Compartment to grab their order. This compartment keeps the pizza warm during its autonomous journey.

“We’ve been watching the development of self-driving vehicles with great interest as we believe transportation is undergoing fundamental, dramatic change,” Domino’s president and CEO Patrick Doyle said in a statement. “This is the first step in an ongoing process of testing that we plan to undertake with Ford.”

The biggest questions lie in the last 50 feet of the delivery experience, according to Domino’s USA President Russell Weiner. The touchscreen interface on the car needs to be clear, for example. (That’s what customers will use to retrieve their pizza.) And Domino’s is curious how customers will react to having to leave their home to grab their pizza from outside. Perhaps it’d be better if Domino’s will have to combine its self-driving vehicle with its delivery robot, too. The company may also have to adjust the delivery flow depending on whether the car parks in a driveway or along a street curb—and what happens if there isn’t any street parking available nearby?

These questions answered, and more, as the test run starts over the next few weeks.

H/T the Verge