Two men were killed in a Tesla crash in Spring, Texas, Saturday night and no one was reportedly behind the wheel, according to local police interviewed by journalist Deven Clarke on NBC affiliate KPRC 2.
The Tesla vehicle reportedly crashed into a tree and burst into flames. One person was found in the front passenger seat and another in the passenger seat of the vehicle.
According to a preliminary investigation, police told KPRC 2 that they believed no one had been behind the wheel, but that they have not completed their thorough investigation. A preliminary investigation is not conclusive.
Police did not immediately respond to CNBC questions about whether the driver may have moved or been removed from the seat during or after the collision
Firefighters reportedly used 32,000 gallons of water and spent hours suppressing the fire resulting from the electric vehicle crash.
As previously reported by CNBC, Tesla sells automated driving systems under the brand names Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD). It also launches a “beta” version of Full Self Driving (FSD beta) software to some customers who have the premium FSD option, which currently costs $ 10,000.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said in a Feb. 11 episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, “I think autopilot gets good enough because you don’t need to drive most of the time unless you really want to.”
Tesla autopilot and FSD are not able to control electric vehicles in all normal driving circumstances.
In a letter to the California DMV late last year, according to records obtained by CNBC and others, Tesla’s lawyers said that “neither autopilot nor FSD capability is an autonomous system.” And in the owners’ manuals, Tesla warns drivers: “Currently activated features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
Still, many Tesla fans and influencers share videos on social media showing people driving hands-free for extended periods, sleeping behind the wheel or with no one in the driver’s seat.
For example, actor Jamie Foxx shared a video on his YouTube channel where he was shown sleeping behind the wheel of a Tesla Model 3, operating it with his hands free with his eyes closed. In January of this year, according to The Drive, a teenager and his mother made a video in which he pretended to be sleeping behind the wheel of a Tesla and then climbed into the back seat to make a sound.
In Germany, a Munich court banned Tesla from using phrases equivalent to autopilot and full autopilot capability in its advertising, because they found this language to mislead consumers and exaggerate the capabilities of cars.
CNBC has contacted Tesla and the Harris County, Texas fire and police departments for more information.
The news of the fatal crash comes when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is evaluating the comments from the public it sought before the proposed decision. The federal agency has not yet regulated automated driving systems, but it left that task to the states.
Recently, there have also been several crashes related to Tesla vehicles, prompting federal investigators to determine whether autopilot or FSD systems were listed in the collisions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last month that it had opened 27 investigations into Tesla vehicle accidents, of which 23 remain active.
A few hours before the fatal crash report in Spring, Texas, Musk released the company’s first-quarter crash data.
He said on Twitter, where he has more than 50 million followers, “Tesla with the autopilot was now committed approaching 10 times less likely to crash than the average vehicle.”
According to data gathered by Tesla but not shared with third parties for independent analysis, the company said: “We recorded one accident for every 4.19 million kilometers on which drivers had autopilot. For those driving without autopilot but with our active safety functions, we recorded one accident for every 2.05 million kilometers traveled.For those driving without autopilot and without our active safety functions, we recorded one accident for every 978 thousand kilometers traveled. “
Tesla did not disclose how many accidents that affected its cars resulted in injuries, fatalities or just damage to vehicles or property.