Investigators in Texas say the owner of a Tesla Model S whose body was found in the back seat after a fiery crash was at least initially in the driver's seat.
The owner of a Tesla Inc. Model S that slammed into a tree last month, who died along with a passenger, was behind the wheel when the car left his house shortly before the crash.
Although the NTSB didn’t specifically say whether the driver was still operating the car, the preliminary report at least suggests that was possible, bolstering Tesla’s assertions that Autopilot, its driver assistance technology, was not engaged before the crash.The car’s automated steering system appeared not to have been switched on, investigators said. An NTSB test of a similar vehicle showed other automated driving features could have been activated, but not the so-called Autosteer.
Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, said on the company’s most recent earnings call that the steering wheel was “deformed,” which suggested that someone was in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash. The home security camera captured the crash, the NTSB said. “The car leaves and travels about 550 feet before departing the road on a curve, driving over the curb, and hitting a drainage culvert, a raised manhole and a tree,” the NTSB said in the report.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Autopilot could not have been functioning in Tesla Texas crash, NTSB saysThe National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said testing showed Autopilot could not have been functioning in an April 17 Tesla Model S fatal crash near Houston, Texas because a key feature could not have been in use, according to a preliminary report released Monday.
Read more »
NTSB report on Tesla fatal accident in Texas raises doubt Autopilot was fully onA preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board raises the possibility that one of two key components of Tesla Inc.'s Autopilot may not have...
Read more »
NTSB: Tesla owner got into driver's seat before deadly crashHome security camera footage shows that the owner of a Tesla got into the driver's seat of the car shortly before a deadly crash in suburban Houston, according to a government report.
Read more »
Total's Port Arthur, Texas, refinery cuts gasoline output due to Colonial outage -sourcesTotal SE (TOTF.PA) reduced gasoline production on Monday at its 225,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery because of the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Read more »
'We're not going to stop,' family says of search for missing Texas motherThe family of Texas mother Erica Hernandez, who went missing three weeks ago, are clinging to hope of finding her alive. They say that Mother's Day was one of the most agonizing and lonely days they've had to endure since she vanished in April.
Read more »