The victims' families have asked for privacy as the crash is probed.
Three teens were killed and another person was seriously injured when their Tesla Cybertruck crashed Wednesday in Piedmont, California, according to police and local media reports.
Just after 3 a.m., police received a collision alert from an iPhone, which provided police with the location of the crash, according to Piedmont Police Department Chief Jeremy Bowers. Shortly after, someone called 911 to report a crash.
"Officers arrived on scene to find a single-vehicle collision fully engulfed in flames," Bowers said at a press conference Wednesday.
Three young adults are dead and one is injured after a solo vehicle crash in Piedmont, Calif. early Wednesday, police said. KGO
Another motorist was able to pull one person from the Cybertruck, Bowers said. The unidentified person was listed in stable condition as of Saturday evening, according to city officials.
The victims were identified Saturday by city officials as Soren Dixon, Jack Nelson and Krysta Tsukahara. The victims were teenage college students, according to ABC affiliate KGO.
The victims' family members released statements expressing their sorrow and asking for privacy.
"He accepted challenges readily, whether in academics or on the athletic field—he was an ambitious, dedicated student and a team player in sports and in life. He will always be in our hearts and in the hearts of all who were fortunate to know him," Dixon's family said in a statement.
"Jack will always be a part of our family. While his time was far too short, we take comfort in knowing that his memory will carry on for all that knew him," Nelson's family said in a statement.
City officials in Piedmont, California, identified the three people as Soren Dixon, Jack Nelson and Krysta Tsukahara. (Handout/City of Piedmont) (Handout/City of Piedmont)
"She was known for her kind and sensitive heart, love for her family and friends, and for her incredible eye for style and design," the family of Tsukahara, a student at Savannah College of Art and Design, said in a statement.
City officials also echoed the calls for privacy as investigators continue to probe the incident.
Officers attempted to extinguish the flames, but the fire was too intense for the extinguishers to be effective, police said.
The Piedmont Fire Department responded and was ultimately able to extinguish the flames, according to Bowers.
Police believe it is possible the people involved in the crash were at a function together before the incident.
There is no evidence that a mechanical issue with the electric truck caused the crash, police said.
Speed was a factor in the collision, but there were other factors that likely contributed to the deadly crash, Bowers said.
The Piedmont Police Department is investigating along with the California Highway Patrol.
thedude198644 on December 1st, 2024 at 00:09 UTC »
I'm already seeing at least one person in the comments lying about the amount of crash testing that's been done on the cybertruck.
Here's a sourced Reddit post from about a year ago with some information:
https://www.reddit.com/r/RealTesla/comments/18grmnb/cybertruck_crash_test_rating_situation_revealed/
TLDR: Cybertrucks haven't been officially crash tested by IIHS, a third party organization, or the NHTSA, the official government agency tasked with crash testing vehicles, because not enough cybertrucks have been sold to justify the cost to the agencies to have them tested. Tesla could pay to have those agencies test them, but they're not forking over the money to do so. As long as cybertrucks have ABS, front airbags, and a handful of other safety features, they're allowed to sell them to consumers with the addendum that the trucks haven't been rated for safety in crashes.
The headline is that Tesla has done in house crash testing and has not released the results publicly. They just put out videos showing crash tests being performed. Defenders will no doubt say that they don't legally have to, or that other car companies also don't release internal test data, or that Tesla wouldn't release a vehicle that they think is unsafe. Maybe you're right. Maybe it's the right of every American to climb into a death machine and run head first into walls. But to claim that the cybertruck has been crash tested when we don't know the results of that crash testing is irresponsible. Crashes could result in everyone dying or having the best time of their lives, but we'd never know because Tesla won't say.
It takes a second to make up a lie like, "The cybertruck is crash tested," and literal hours to debunk.
Edit: Correcting information regarding the IIHS being an independent third party organization instead of a governmental organization.
KyokoGG on November 30th, 2024 at 23:34 UTC »
RIP to the 3 19 year olds.
JuliusErrrrrring on November 30th, 2024 at 23:26 UTC »
The CEO of Rivian should investigate this.