A report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board this week has found that a 2021 fiery Tesla crash was the result of the vehicle's driver speeding and being intoxicated. The crash killed two people.
69-year-old engineer Everett Talbot and 59-year-old Dr. William Varner were the victims of the crash which took place on April 17, 2021. The occupants were traveling in a 2019 Tesla Model S P100D which, after slamming into a tree, burst into flames.
NTSB's investigation concluded that the likely cause of the crash was: "the driver's excessive speed and failure to control his car, due to impairment from alcohol intoxication in combination with the effects of two sedating antihistamines, resulting in a roadway departure, tree impact, and post-crash fire," according to ABC.
Recall, we wrote back in May 2021 that a close friend of one of the men who died in the Houston area fatal wreck ago said he believed the driver of the vehicle climbed into the back seat while "trying to save his own life". We noted that when the NTSB issued their preliminary report on the wreck, they noted that "all aspects" were still under investigation.
The report noted that:
Dr. William Varner - identified as one of two men who died in the accident - was in the vehicle after it caught fire. He was found by first responders to be in the back seat of the vehicle. The other occupant was found in the front passenger's seat.
Varner's best friend, Bob Wortham, said back in 2021: “I’ve been going weeks without being able to sleep because I can’t get it out of my mind. It’s just horrible.”
“The reason he was in the back seat, he was trying to save his life. It was such a painful experience for the whole family,” he continued, telling a local NBC affiliate. Wortham said he believed that Varner could not get out of the car and was burned alive.
“There was a neighbor that saw and came over to see what was going on and he said the damage on the front of the car was minor damage,” Wortham said. “This car was burned so bad that they couldn’t identify either of the people by their dental records. That’s how bad they were burned.”