Federal authorities are investigating after a Cybertruck crashed and caught fire earlier this week, killing the driver. While Tesla’s unconventional vehicles have been involved in multiple accidents, this is said to be the first involving a fatality. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it will investigate a fatal incident that occurred early Monday morning in the greater Houston area.
According to local news reports, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers responded to the area near the Grand Parkway early Monday morning for a report of an accident. Officials said based on a preliminary investigation, the truck appeared to have veered off the road around 1:45 a.m. and hit a culvert, where it caught fire. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. It was also reported that the driver could not initially be identified due to burns and the vehicle’s vehicle identification number was obscured by the fire, which also hampered identification.
As of Monday, it was unclear exactly what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and run off the road. Gizmodo reached out to local authorities for more information and will update this story if they respond.
According to Reuters, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the accident.
The Cybertruck, which looks a bit like a cross between a Hummer and a trash can, was developed by Tesla and has been quietly appearing on U.S. roads over the past six months. It was first announced in 2019 and has been talked about frequently by Tesla CEO Elon Musk since Tesla officially started delivering cars to customers last November. While they are still rarely seen, I have personally spotted at least a half dozen of them wandering the streets across California.
These vehicles seem to attract attention wherever they go. Just yesterday, Donald Trump received a car from popular streamer Adin Ross, sparking some viral buzz for his presidential campaign.
Still, there are some issues with these vehicles. According to Reuters, Tesla has issued four different recalls for its 2024 Cybertruck models. Just weeks ago, the company recalled more than 11,000 vehicles due to electrical problems with unusually large windshield wipers.
