Firefighters in Scottsdale, Arizona, had to put out a blaze caused by a Tesla vehicle twice on Friday: first when the car crashed into a structure and again as it was being towed.
One eyewitness said the Tesla car driver was attempting to park at the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Paradise Lane when the vehicle abruptly surged forward and collided with a structure.
Fatal Tesla Car Crash in California
The witness noted that she immediately went to help the individuals trapped inside the car. She helped the mother remove her daughter from the driver's seat, who was bleeding heavily. Once they got her down to the ground, they called 911 immediately, according to Fox 10 News. Injuries are not considered to be life-threatening, according to Scottsdale police.
She noticed the car caught fire below its tires 30 seconds after the Tesla crash. The car's owner, "Prayam," said his wife and daughter were in the vehicle at the time of the incident.
Firefighters and Phoenix HAZMAT teams were summoned to Scottsdale Road and Butherus Drive later that morning when the Tesla again caught fire while being hauled. Prayam noted his Tesla was caught in a second fire on his way to the site.
The tow truck driver was transported to the hospital for a medical examination. Then a dozen fire engines, vehicles, and HAZMAT crews doused the Tesla with water to ensure a third fire would not happen.
The incident happened days after a Tesla Model S slammed into a fire truck that blocked up I-680 while covering another team clearing a different accident in Walnut Creek, CA. A passenger was also taken to the hospital, but the driver was declared dead.
It was not clear to authorities whether the motorist was impaired or if they were using Autopilot during the Tesla crash incident, per TMZ. Tesla might face more troubles if it turns out the driver was making use of the Autopilot, which has recently been under intense scrutiny.
NHTSA Launches Investigation on Tesla Crashes
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated hundreds of special crash investigations (SCI) into Tesla accidents in which Autopilot is implicated.
Teslas were engaged in 39 of the 48 SCIs built and closed between June 2016 and July 2022. Just three of the 39 incidents were found to not have used Autopilot. NHTSA is still investigating several tragic accidents involving Teslas. However, the organization did not provide details on ongoing probes.
After authorities warned that the e-car's Full Self-Driving feature (FSD) might lead Tesla automobiles to behave recklessly at and near junctions, Tesla recalled 362,758 vehicles to implement software updates, as per Techcrunch.
The recall came after The Dawn Project ran a Super Bowl commercial urging government agencies to prohibit FSD until serious safety flaws are addressed.
Several levels of government, including those at the federal and state levels, have begun investigating Tesla's ADAS to ensure its reliability and safety. The Justice Department asked Tesla for details on Autopilot and FSD earlier this month, perhaps as part of a criminal probe into the Tesla crash.
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