Two men driving in a Tesla were killed over the weekend when the car crashed into a tree in Texas and burst into flames.
The wife of the two unidentified friends, aged 59 and 69, heard them discuss the car driver of the Model S Tesla when they left the car together on Saturday night, a local constable said.
One man was in the front passenger seat, the other one was sitting behind him in the back seat, Harris County Precinct 4, const. Mark Herman, told Houston. KPRC TV channel 2. Police found no evidence that anyone was in the driver’s seat when the car went off. hit the road and against a tree; however, the investigation continues.
No one was driving the fully electric Tesla when the crash occurred, Herman said.
Herman said investigators believe the car was speeding when it missed an arc and crashed into the tree in a neighborhood.
The fire took four hours and about 32,000 liters of water to extinguish because the Tesla’s batteries kept burning, reports KPRC. Firefighters had to call the car manufacturer for advice on how to put out the fire completely.
The National Road Safety Administration has launched 27 investigations – with 23 in progress – into accidents involving Tesla’s autopilot. The latest in Texas may be the first time no one has been in the driver’s seat during an accident.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has largely shaken off concerns about the auto driver feature, insisting it makes cars safer by helping drivers.
Although Tesla warns drivers not to take their hands off the steering wheel when the car is operating on a steering machine, it is known that drivers at the wheel of the steering wheel have fallen asleep, read or sent an SMS, or simply stop noticing the road when using the feature.
“Autopilot is intended for use with an attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is always ready to take over.” The “currently activated features do not make the vehicle autonomous”, reads the Tesla website. A video that appears on the website shows a car driving with the driver’s hands in his lap. A message at the beginning of the video states that “the person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”
Tesla could not be immediately reached for comment. The company eliminated its liaison department last year.
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