Hours before the deadly crash outside Houston, Tesla founder Elon Musk touted the vehicle's autopilot feature on Twitter. The company's stock fell Monday after news of the crash broke.
Tesla’s stock fell Monday after news of a fatal crash apparently involving one of the company’s self-driving cars. Two unidentified men were killed when the Tesla wrecked into a tree before bursting into flames outside Houston, Texas.
One man was in the passenger seat, and the other was in the backseat, but no one was behind the wheel, according to police.
Tesla says the vehicle has a built-in safety mechanism that requires a driver to always be behind the wheel, even when the car’s self-driving feature is turned on. But social media is filled with video of Tesla drivers doing all sorts of things — playing games and even taking naps — while the autopilot feature was turned on.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they are investigating nearly two dozen crashes involving the autopilot feature.
Just hours before the crash, Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted, “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle.”
