Texas authorities say two people were killed Saturday night in a car crash involving a Tesla that crashed and caught on fire. Authorities say that no one was in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash.
One person was found in the front passenger seat and another person in the back.
"They feel very confident just with the positioning of the bodies after the impact that there was no one driving that vehicle," said Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman to news station KHOU-TV.
Officials said the car was going fast, failed to make a turn and ran off the road where it hit a car and burst into flames.
Authorities added it took emergency crews four hours to extinguish the fire, because the car’s batteries kept reigniting.
It has not been confirmed if the car’s driver assist feature "Autopilot" was being used when the car crashed. Tesla said its cars are not autonomous and drivers must pay attention and be ready to take control of the car at any time.
But the National Transportation Safety Board said last year that the system makes it easy for drivers to stop paying attention and does not limit where Autopilot can be used. If the Autopilot feature was engaged, that would raise questions about how the passengers were able to use the feature without someone in the driver’s seat.
Tesla has not responded to requests for comment.
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