The fiery Tesla crash that killed 2 people in Texas was most likely the result of the car's Autopilot feature failing, as cops tell TMZ ... neither man was behind the wheel.
Physical evidence after the Saturday night crash led authorities to believe the 2 men in the Tesla 2019 Model S were not driving it when it failed to navigate a turn, ran off the road and hit a tree ... then burst into flames.
According to Mark Herman, the Harris County Precinct 4 constable ... one of the men was in the front passenger seat, and the other was in the rear seat when it was traveling at a high rate of speed before the crash.
Law enforcement sources tell us they'll be issuing subpoenas for information on the car to determine if it was indeed on Autopilot ... though that's their working assumption. We're told law enforcement is also in contact with Tesla honchos to determine what went wrong.
The men, ages 59 and 69, were with their wives minutes before the fatal wreck telling them about taking the Tesla out for a drive and wanting to use the driver-assistance feature ... according to Herman.
Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle https://t.co/6lGy52wVhC
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2021
Just hours before the fatal accident, Elon Musk tweeted about Tesla with Autopilot having nearly a 10 times lower chance of an accident than an average vehicle ... based on recent data.