SPRING, Texas (KTRK) -- Two people died in a fiery crash involving a 2019 Tesla Model S and its autopilot functionality while taking it for a test drive on Saturday night, according to authorities.
Constable Mark Herman said one person was found in the front passenger seat and another in the back seat. Both died in the fire.
The flames reportedly took hours to extinguish, and Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said the investigation has led them to believe that there was no one driving the car when the crash occurred.
The crash happened just after 9 p.m. on Hammock Dunes Place in the Carlton Woods Creekside subdivision. The victims were said to have been two men who were 59 and 69 years old, however police have not released their names yet.
Firefighters and medics were called to the scene after reports of an explosion in the woods after the Tesla ran off the road, authorities said.
The Tesla was traveling from a cul-de-sac on Hammock Dunes Place and did not negotiate a curve. The vehicle crashed into a tree before bursting into flames.
Constable Herman said the 2019 Tesla Model S was traveling on a roadway and at some point, the vehicle, which deputies said was traveling at a high rate of speed, came to a slight curve. Deputies say the car went off the roadway, crashed into a tree and burst into flames.
Crews found two bodies inside the vehicle, a man in the front passenger seat and another man in the back passenger seat.
The batteries on board the Tesla continued to ignite despite efforts to douse the flames, authorities said. It reportedly took around four hours and more than 30,000 gallons of water before firefighters decided to let the fire burn itself out.
KPRC 2 reporter Deven Clarke spoke to one man’s brother-in-law who said he was taking the car out for a spin with his best friend, so there were just two in the vehicle. The owner, he said, backed out of the driveway, and then may have hopped in the back seat only to crash a few hundred yards down the road. He said the owner was found in the back seat upright.
Read the comments on Reddit for possible reasons.
No One Driving Tesla in Fatal Crash - Map of Location in Texas from r/SelfDrivingCars
