from
‘No one was driving the car’: 2 men dead after fiery Tesla crash near The Woodlands, officials say
1)
"Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman told KPRC 2 that the investigation showed “no one was driving” the fully electric 2019 Tesla when the accident happened." .... He said he believes it wasn’t being driven by a human.
We know that 1) is highly improbable considering a <400 ft overall distance, high speed, and no lane marks. What this actually shows is that Constable Herman has a personal belief involved in this investigation.
2)
KPRC 2 reporter Deven Clarke spoke to one man’s brother-in-law who said he was taking the car out for a spin with his best friend, so there were just two in the vehicle. The owner, he said, backed out of the driveway, and then may have hopped in the back seat only to crash a few hundred yards down the road. He said the owner was found in the back seat upright.
The brother-in-law claims he hasn't actually seen the owner "hopping" in the back seat, but apparently makes this suggestion based on what the police (Constable Herman?) told him.
3)
The brother-in-law of one of the victims said relatives watched the car burn for four hours as authorities tried to tap out the flames.
Authorities said they used 32,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames because the vehicle’s batteries kept reigniting. At one point, Herman said, deputies had to call Tesla to ask them how to put out the fire in the battery.
Now these are, at minimum, the statements of questionable validity by both the brother-in-law and Herman, considering the following:
In a statement to the Houston Chronicle, Palmer Buck, fire chief for The Woodlands Township Fire Department, noted that contrary to some reports in the media, the Tesla Model S fire did not burn out of control for four hours.
Interestingly enough, Buck remarked that his team actually managed to put down the fire within two to three minutes, which was enough for authorities to see that there were occupants in the vehicle. After these first two to three minutes, it was only a matter of keeping the batteries as cool as possible by pouring small amounts of water into the damaged battery pack. Buck described the fire department’s strategy in the following statement.
“With respect to the fire fight, unfortunately, those rumors grew way out of control. It did not take us four hours to put out the blaze. Our guys got there and put down the fire within two to three minutes, enough to see the vehicle had occupants. After that, it was simply cooling the car as the batteries continued to have a chain reaction due to damage.
“We could not tear it apart or move it around to get ‘final extinguishment’ because the fact that we had two bodies in there and it was then an investigation-slash-crime scene. We had to keep it cool, were on scene for four hours, but we were simply pouring a little bit of water on it. It was not because flames were coming out. It was a reaction in the battery pan. It was not an active fire,” Buck said.
“We did not (call Tesla), and I do not know where (that rumor) came from. There is a chance someone else did, maybe the Harris County Fire Marshal, but we did not call (Tesla). Tesla has an emergency manual for first responders,”
And now this from
Texas police to demand Tesla crash data as Musk denies Autopilot use | Reuters
"We have witness statements from people that said they left to test drive the vehicle without a driver and to show the friend how it can drive itself," Herman said.
So, if Herman refers to the brother-in-law as a witness then either one of them is lying or both lie. I'd ask the question if they know each other. There could be other witnesses of course but we haven't heard anything about them. I think I remember the victims wives were mentioned along the same indecisive witness account as the brother-in-law.
