Two men riding a Tesla were killed this weekend when the car crashed into a Texas tree and burst into flames.
The wives of the two unidentified friends, aged 59 and 69, heard them talking about the feature of the Tesla 2019 autopilot as they drove together in the car on Saturday night, a local police officer said.
One man was in the front passenger seat, the other was sitting behind him in the back seat, Harris County District 4 Mark Herman told Houston KPRC-TV Channel 2. Police found no evidence that anyone was he was in the driver’s seat when the car took off. the road and hit a tree; however, the investigation is ongoing.
No one was driving a fully electric Tesla when the crash occurred, Herman said.
Herman said investigators believe the car was traveling at high speed when it missed a curve and crashed into a tree in a residential neighborhood.
The flame lasted four hours and about 32,000 gallons of water to go out as Tesla batteries continued to ignite, KPRC reported. Firefighters had to call the carmaker for advice on how to completely extinguish the fire.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched 27 investigations – with 23 underway – into accidents that could have involved the Tesla autopilot feature. The most recent in Texas could be the first time no one was in the driver’s seat during an accident.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has raised many concerns about the autopilot function and insisted it makes cars safer by helping drivers.
Although Tesla warns drivers not to get their hands off the wheel when the car is in autopilot, drivers have known that they fall asleep behind the wheel, read or text, or simply stop paying attention when driving. function.
“The autopilot is intended for use with a fully attentive driver who has his hands on the steering wheel and is ready to take over at any time.” “Currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous,” the Tesla website said. However, a video presented on the site shows a car driving with the driver’s hands in his lap. A message at the beginning of the video notes that “the person in the driver’s seat is there only for legal reasons. He does nothing. The car drives itself. ”
Tesla could not be reached immediately for comment. The company eliminated its public relations department last year.
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