A Tesla Model S with “no one in the driver’s seat” was crashed late Saturday in Texas. The electric car was at high speed when it crashed into a tree and caught on fire, killing two passengers, the Wall Street Journal reported quoting Harris County constable Mark Herman. The Tesla failed to make a cul-de-sac turn and went off the roadway slamming a tree. A preliminary police investigation concluded that both occupants were sitting in the back seat instead of riding in the front. Read – 12 Cool Features of Tesla Cybertruck That Make It A Super Truck
The batteries of Tesla Model S kept reigniting due to fire flames that were extinguished with 32,000 gallons of water in four hours. As of now, there is no clarity whether the crash was caused by Tesla’s self-driving system or not. Though, Mark Herman said that “our preliminary investigation is determining—but it’s not complete yet – that there was no one at the wheel of that vehicle. We’re almost 99.9 percent sure”. Federal officials have criticized Tesla for its Autopilot driver assistance system and risks related to the battery packs in its vehicles.
As of now, there is no official word from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Tesla on the recent car crash.
Tesla states on its official website that “the currently enabled features require active driver supervision”. In a recent tweet, Elon Musk said that “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chances of accident than average vehicle”.
Just so you know, the American auto giant is all set to begin its Indian operations this year. In fact, the carmaker might setup its first showrooms in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The company has already registered its Indian subsidiary as Tesla India Motors And Energy Private Limited with headquarter setup in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The first Tesla car in India will be the Model 3 sedan that’s likely to be priced above Rs 55 lakh.
