I thought "autopilot" was only supposed to be used on freeways. And obviously assisted by a human who should have seen a fucking parked cop car coming and intercede anyway.
It depends on which system they actually had on the vehicle. It's more complicated than random people seem to think. But even with the FSD beta, it specifically tells the driver every time they activate it that they need to pay attention and are still responsible for the vehicle.
Despite what the average internet user seems to think, not all Teslas even have the computer capable of Full Self Driving installed. I'd even say most don't. Most people seem to think that Autopilot and FSD are the same, they're not, and never have been.
There have been 4+ computer systems in use over the years as they've upgraded the hardware and added capabilities in newer software. Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self Driving BETA are three different systems with different capabilities. Anything bought prior to the very first small public closed beta of FSD a couple years ago would need to be replaced with a new computer to use FSD. Installation cost is included if someone buys FSD outright, or they have to pay for the upgrade if they instead want the subscription. All older Teslas however would be limited to Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot without that computer upgrade.
The AP and FSD systems are not at all the same, and they use different code. Autopilot is designed and intended for highways and doesn't require the upgraded computer. Autopilot is and always has been effectively just Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Auto steer. Enhanced Autopilot added extra features like Summon, Auto lane change, Navigetc.ate on Autopilot (on-ramp to off-ramp navigation) but has never been intended for city streets. Autopilot itself hasn't really been updated in years, almost all the updates have been to the FSD beta.
The FSD beta is what is being designed for city streets, intersections, etc. and needs that upgraded computer to process everything for that in real time. It uses a different codebase to process data.