Shocking moment a Tesla EXPLODES after ‘autopilot failure’ saw driver plough into a tow truck in Moscow
- Alexey Tretiyakov, 41, and his children escaped before the Tesla burst into flames
- Police said the autopilot feature caused the Tesla to ignore a tow truck in front
- Tretiyakov said he was in ‘driver’s assistant’ mode so he was still holding wheel
- He said he broke his leg and injured his chest and his kids were concussed
This is the appalling moment a Tesla car erupts in flames and explodes after a crash caused by an ‘autopilot failure.’
The plug-in car rammed into a tow truck on Moscow’s ring road, leaving businessman driver Alexey Tretiyakov, 41, with a broken leg and his children suffering bruises and concussion.
He and his passengers escaped the car before was engulfed in the flames.
Alexey Tretiyakov’s Tesla Mark 3 smashed into the side of a tow truck and burst into flames. The 41-year-old businessman had been driving with his children in the backseat and using the car’s ‘driver assistant’ autopilot feature
Tretyakov, pictured above at hospital in Moscow, suffered a broken leg in the collision and chest injuries. Luckily, he said, his children were unharmed bar concussion and bruises and he hopes they’ll be discharged soon
They were rushed to hospital.
There was heavy traffic around the car when it erupted into an inferno with several small explosions and black smoke.
The moment was caught by another driver.
A law enforcement source said: ‘The Tesla was probably driving on autopilot and couldn’t recognise the tow truck in front of it, after which it caught fire.’
The inferno began with a few small explosions followed by billowing black smoke erupting from the chassis of the luxury four-door all electric sedan
The Tesla Mark iii received an all round five star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The possibility of having a rollover is supposed to be just 6.6 per cent, according to the crash tests conducted in its development. Tesla chairman Elon Musk has championed it as the safest car ever
A report by Channel 112 stated: ‘The auto driving robot did not recognise an obstacle on the road….so the Tesla hit the tow truck at the high speed and caught fire.’
But the driver admitted he was holding the wheel on the ring road, known as MKAD, as automaker Tesla tells drivers they must.
‘I was going along Moscow Ring road in the left lane with a speed of 100 km per hour (62mph) and did not notice a parked Gazel tow truck,’ he said told REN TV.
‘My Tesla Model 3 hit the tow truck with its left side and caught fire.
‘It was not on full-scale automatic control – in Model 3 there is the function “driver’s assistant” only, so I was holding the wheel.’
Tretyakov, head of AriCapital company, said all three were wearing belts.
‘I needed help to get out of my car because one of my legs was broken.’
According to Tretiyakov, he was travelling at around 62 mph on the Moscow ring road when he smashed into the parked tow truck on the side of the road. Police officers have blamed the auto-pilot ‘robot’ in the Tesla for not failing to see the truck
He also suffered a chest injury in the smash.
He was being treated in hospital but hoped his children would be discharged.
The accident was at around 9pm Moscow time.
The tow truck was aiding a Lada which breakdown on the highway.