Two people died in the fatal crash of a Tesla and authorities say there was no one in the driver’s seat, although it is not clear if the car’s driver system was used. A Harris County constable told television stations in Houston that there was one person in the front passenger seat and another one in a rear passenger seat after the wreck in the suburb of Spring in Houston.
Mark Herman, District 4 of Harris County, said authorities are sure no one was driving the car during the crash.
“They feel very confident just with the location of the bodies after the impact that no one was driving the vehicle,” Herman told KBS subsidiary KHOU-TV.
Deputies said the car, a Tesla Model S according to KHOU-TV, was driving fast and could not navigate a turn until it ran off the road on Saturday night, hit a tree and burst into flames. The identity of the victims was not yet released on Sunday afternoon. KHOU-TV reported that the one 69 and the other 59.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Federal traffic safety officials are investigating a number of accidents in Tesla in which the vehicle’s Autopilot feature was used, including accidents in which cars drove under tractor trailers.
The company warns customers that its driver assistance system, called Autopilot, is not an autonomous driving program, and that they must be alert and ready to take control of the vehicle. However, the National Transportation Safety Board said last year that the design of the system allows drivers not to pay attention, and that it is not limited to the use of Autopilot.
Local station KPRC-TV reported that a brother-in-law of one of the victims said it took four hours to put out the fire. According to authorities, the vehicle’s batteries went up repeatedly and Herman said deputies called Tesla to ask how to put out the fire. Tesla publishes information for first responders, including the location of high voltage lines.