Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were down 1.16% on Tuesday and an additional 1.21% to $211.40 in after-hours trading. Just a week after a fatal accident involving its Autopilot feature on the Model S, another Autopilot-related incident is being reported by the Detroit Free Press.
According to the report, art gallery owner Albert Scaglione and his son-in-law were able to survive the car crash in July 1 as their Model X SUV hit a guardrailon the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Bedford exit, about 107 miles east of Pittsburgh.
The report revealed that Scaglione’s car was travelling east when it hit a guardrail off the side of the roadway around 5PM. The car then crossed over the eastbound lanes and hit the concrete barrier before the Model X rolled on its roof until the middle of the eastbound side. Based on the accident report filed, Scaglione told police that his Tesla Model X was in Autopilot mode when it happened.
However, the news report also indicated that the Pennsylvania Turnpike has narrow shoulders and its concrete median barriers offer little margin for driver error. With that, some say that there’s not enough evidence to pin the blame on the Tesla Autopilot feature.
Tesla is a company that designs, develops, manufactures and sells electric vehicles and energy storage products. produces and sells two electric vehicles: the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV. The company has a market cap of $31.84 billion at 145.88 million shares outstanding. Shares have been trading in a 52-week range of $141.05 to $286.65.
Just last week, a fatal accident involving a Tesla Model S sedan took place in Florida, as investigators revealed that both the driver and the Autopilot feature failed to acknowledge the presence of an approaching trailer truck. A DVD player playing Harry Potter was also said to have been found in the crash site.
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