"Two vehicles collided on the freeway, blocking the left lane. A Toyota 4Runner stopped, and two people got out to help with traffic control. A red Tesla Model Y then hit the 4Runner and one of the people who exited from it. "
edit: Parent article was changed... I was referring to the title of the NPR article.
Which seems like a reasonable description of the type of failure involved in the final few seconds before impact.
Calling them motorists would definitely be misleading by comparison. Using the simple “fatal crash” of the linked title implies the other people might in be responsible which is misleading.
Using accident but saying Tesla was at fault could open them up to liability and therefore isn’t an option.
"Pedestrian killed on freeway" instead of "pedestrian killed" doesn't take 100 words and doesn't give the impression Tesla's are mowing people down on crosswalks (although that's a feature to get clicks, not a bug).
It’s not an issue for Tesla, but it does imply bad things about the victims.
Stranded motorists who exit their vehicle, construction workers, first responders, tow truck drivers, etc are the most common victims but that’s not the association I had.