Tesla: Autopilot was not on in Model S that crashed this week

A Tesla Model S that hit a tree in the United States earlier this week was not driving itself, according to the car manufacturer. Two investigations have now been launched into the accident, in which two people were killed.

The Tesla’s Autopilot was not turned on, and the owner of the car had not purchased a Full Self Driving package, says Tesla founder Elon Musk on Twitter. Musk refers to the logs from the computer in the car that would indicate this. According to Musk, the Autopilot would also only work if there were road markings on the road, but that was not the case on the road the car was on.

Musk is referring to a fatal accident involving a Model S car that happened in Houston, Texas earlier this week. A car went off the road. The two passengers died. Police say neither passenger was driving the car. One would have sat in the front passenger seat, the other in the back.

Authorities say they have not yet received an official response from Tesla. “If they have already retrieved the data, they have not told us yet,” the local police chief told Reuters. The police will request the data from the car manufacturer with search warrants. An investigation has also been launched by the National Transportation Safety Board. They also want to investigate how the vehicle behaved while driving.