Two People Killed After Tesla Crashes Into A Tree And Becomes “Engulfed In Flames” In Florida

Two people were killed on Monday night this week after a Tesla crashed into a tree in Coral Gables, Florida.

The “fiery wreck” took place at the intersection of Alhambra Circle and Coral Way, according to Local 10. Local police said the driver crashed the car into a tree, but no further details about the accident have been determined yet. 

Cellphone video of the wreck shows the vehicle “engulfed in flames” and both occupants of the vehicle were killed. “That’s a Tesla,” the person taking the video of the wreck can be heard saying. 

Authorities spent Tuesday collecting evidence at the scene of the accident and an investigation is ongoing. The driver was a 20 year old male and the passenger was a 19 year old woman, the report says. 

Recall, the NHTSA recently said it had opened a formal investigation into the company’s Autopilot feature. It said it is opening a probe into Tesla’s Model X, S, and 3 for model years 2014-2021. The broad range of models and model years means that this could be the broad investigation that Tesla skeptics have been requesting for years. Specifically, the regulator is looking into a litany of accidents involving Teslas on Autopilot slamming into inanimate emergency response vehicles on the road. 

The NHTSA said the investigation would assess technologies, methods “used to monitor, assist, and enforce the driver’s engagement” during autopilot operation, according to Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs appeared anything but optimistic that the probe into Autopilot would be resolved quickly. “Given the current probe is related to a Level 2 driver-assist system, one solution could be for an enhanced driver monitoring system to ensure driver compliance with Tesla’s terms of use,” the investment bank wrote last month.

You can watch Local 10’s coverage of the wreck here.