You might have read recently that a Tesla Model S was involved in a fatal crash with Autopilot activated. It’s unclear at this point whether the semi-autonomous driving system failed or if the driver was at fault, investigators are still looking into the incident. Florida Highway Patrol officials said that they found a DVD player in the Tesla Model S that was involved in this fatal crash.
It has not been determined at this point in time whether the DVD player was being operated by the driver at the time of the crash, but witnesses who came upon the wreckage of the crash gave conflicting reports about whether a movie was playing on the DVD player.
Two witnesses have said that the portable DVD player was playing a Harry Potter movie even after the vehicle had crashed but there have been conflicting reports from other witnesses as well who claim that no movie was playing.
This is the first known fatality of a Model S driver that was relying on Autopilot. Questions are still being asked about what caused this accident, whether the system failed because the car did not stop for a turning truck or whether the driver failed to pay attention to the road as Tesla cautions drivers to do when Autopilot is activated.
It’s going to take a considerable amount of time before investigators determine who was at fault in this crash, Tesla is already facing a preliminary inquiry by federal regulators over the safety of its Autopilot system.