Tesla Cybertruck Driver Killed In First Fatal Crash, NHTSA Investigating Accident
State Troopers of the Texas Department of Public Safety are still trying to determine what caused a fatality in a lone Tesla Cybertruck crash on Monday morning around 1:45 a.m. According to the Troopers, a Cybertruck with a single driver suddenly lost control of the vehicle, veered off the road, and slammed into a concrete culvert. At some point, the truck also caught fire, but it's still unknown if the driver died from the crash first or from the fire. Authorities aren't yet able to reveal the identify of the driver due to the fire-damage to the VIN markers on the vehicle, and severe burns on the deceased.
A bunch of reasons make this a big deal. Primarily, this fatality marks the one in a Cybertruck, which has yet to be crash-tested by the NHTSA. Tesla has been called out (with very little legal consequences) because its cars and SUVs have caused the most deaths in the U.S in the EV category. As more customers receive their new Cybertrucks, it's possible more deaths can happen.
We do want to quickly point out that this accident wasn't caused by Autopilot (Tesla's onboard self-driving suite), because Cybertrucks haven't been cleared for the function as of this writing. But with the truck having undergone four manufacturer recalls at this point, one wonders if something failed during this fateful drive, such as a stuck accelerator pedal. We caution against jumping to any conclusions, though.
Since being revealed to the world in 2019 by Elon Musk (and finally shipped late last year), the Cybertruck has not only captured the world and internet by storm with its very unique, paintless looks, but has also been panned for its beta-like malfunctions, build quality, sharp body panels, average offroad performance, and much higher asking price than initially promised.
Our sincere condolences go out to the family of the driver.
