A Tesla crash on Saturday in Texas that claimed the lives of two men, one of them being a doctor, has stirred up legitimate concerns about self-driving technology.
These concerns, however, should be governed by facts which will continue to arise as investigations continue with Texas officials, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
What’s already come into question, according to the Houston Chronicle, is whether the 2019 Tesla Model S owned by 59-year-old Dr. William Varner was actually in self-driving mode when it ran off the road, crashed into a tree and caught fire killing Varner and his 69-year-old friend Everette Talbot in a gated community north of Houston.
On Monday, two days after the crash, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that, “Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled and this car did not purchase FSD (Full Self Driving). Moreover, standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which this street did not have.”
Police reported that no one was behind the wheel as the car headed towards a cul-de-sac and on Tuesday served Tesla with search warrants to gain access to vehicle data according to Reuters. Talbot’s body was recovered from the front passenger seat and Varner’s from a seat in the back.
Police said according to witnesses the men had left Warner’s home to test the car in self-driving mode and crashed just a few hundred yards away.
