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DVD player found in Tesla car that crashed on autopilot

A Tesla car, that fatally crashed while on autopilot, had a DVD player with Harry Potter on when it crashed, US authorities say.

Tesla

Joshua Brown in the driver's seat of his Tesla Model S while he demonstrates the car's self-driving mode. Brown was killed on May 7, 2016 Source: AAP

A DVD player was found in the Tesla car that was on autopilot when it crashed and killed the driver in Florida in May, Florida Highway Patrol officials say.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for a truck driver involved in the accident with the Tesla, said his investigators had spoken to a witness who said the DVD player was playing a Harry Potter video after the accident, but he was unable to verify that beyond the witness account.

Officials said on Friday that a DVD player was found in the Tesla.

"There was a portable DVD player in the vehicle," said Sergeant Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol in a telephone interview.

She said there was no camera found, mounted on the dash or of any kind, in the wreckage.

Paul Weekly of Tampa, the lawyer for the truck driver, said, "As to the video, there was a witness who came to the scene immediately after the accident occurred, and we can't verify it at this point."

The truck driver, Frank Baressi, said the impact of the Model S "lifted the trailer up and jolted the heck out of it when he went under it. It sheared the top of the car right off."

Frank Baressi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Palm Harbor.
Frank Baressi speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Palm Harbor. Source: AAP

Weekley said that the top third of the Model S was sheared off the sedan while the rest of it went under the trailer and travelled another 213 metres on the road and 61 metres off the paved surface before coming to rest.

Weekley said the centre console of the car was not seriously damaged, meaning that the electronic data recorder, the so-called "black box" for the car, should have been intact.

The recorder had been removed from the Model S before his investigators were able to see it, he said.


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



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