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Tesla: Car In Fatal Castro Valley Crash Not In Autopilot Mode

CASTRO VALLEY (CBS SF) -- A spokesperson for Tesla on Wednesday confirmed the vehicle involved in a solo fatal crash over the weekend on a winding East Bay road was not in Autopilot mode.

34-year-old Danville resident Keith Leung was driving his Tesla when he veered off Crow Canyon Road, crashed through a fence and went into a pond on private property.

Authorities have been investigating whether or not the vehicle was in Autopilot mode when the crash happened. They received confirmation from car company officials Wednesday.

"We have been able to recover enough data from the vehicle to confirm that Autopilot was not engaged at the time of this accident," a Tesla spokesperson told KPIX 5.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Department on Monday said their dive team spent hours between Sunday night -- when the vehicle was first discovered -- and early Monday morning getting to the Tesla Model S submerged in the pond.

That was when divers pulled Leung's body out of the water.

"We have never dealt with a submerged car, an electric car, like that before," said Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly. "We took some precautions to make sure our divers were safe when they touched the car."

On Monday, the victim's father Tak Leung told KPIX 5 that he didn't think his son would have been using Autopilot mode on Crow Canyon Road.

Tak Leung said he only recalled his son driving the Tesla in autopilot on the highway.

"When he starts going to the local streets, he would turn it off," Leung said.

 

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