By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-05 17:07:33 | Updated at 2024-12-22 17:18:40
2 weeks ago
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration has begun reviewing the fiery Tesla Cybertruck crash that left three local college students dead in Piedmont.
Soren Dixon, Jack Nelson, and Krysta Tsukahara, all 19, died in the crash that occurred at around 3am on November 27.
Jordan Miller, 20, a business student at the University of Wisconsin was pulled alive from the SUV and is currently in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit.
At the time, Piedmont Police Chief Jeremy Bowers said the Cybertruck had veered off the road, hit a retaining wall and crashed into a tree before bursting into flames.
But now, the NHTSA has announced it will be working with the California Highway Patrol to find out the cause of the accident.
In a statement to CBS News Bay Area, the federal agency confirmed that it is in the process of 'gathering information' and has not yet launched an investigation.
'NHTSA is aware of the crash and is gathering information from the manufacturer and law enforcement.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration for more information.
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration has begun reviewing the fiery Tesla Cybertruck crash that left three local college students dead in Piedmont
Jordan Miller, 20, a 20-year-old business student at the University of Wisconsin was pulled alive from the SUV and is currently in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit
The California Highway Patrol is currently the lead agency in the crash investigation.
Before the agency's announcement, Chief Bowers had determined speeding as one of the reasons for the crash but did not specify if the driver assistance features on the Cybertruck were engaged at the time of the crash.
He added there was no sign of any mechanical problems and the vehicle's lithium battery did not play a role in the fire.
All four were old friends who graduated Piedmont High School in 2023 and were sophomores in universities around the country.
Nelson and Dixon were stars on the Piedmont HS lacrosse team and Nelson also played junior varsity football and varsity soccer with Miller.
Dixon continued playing lacrosse at the University of Southern California and Nelson studied at the University of Colorado Boulder and joined the Sigma Nu fraternity.
Tsukahara was on the school's golf team, and was studying at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.
Samantha Miller said her son, who was studying at the University of Wisconsin, was a passenger in the car, but declined to say who was driving.
Krysta Tsukahara, 19, was killed along with two friends in a Tesla Cybertruck crash in Piedmont, east of Oakland
Soren Dixon, 19, was also killed in the Cybertruck crash. He studied at the University of Southern California after graduating Piedmont and all four friends had returned for Thanksgiving
Jack Nelson (pictured) and Dixon were stars on the Piedmont HS lacrosse team and Nelson also played junior varsity football and varsity soccer
She recently spoke to CBS News and The San Francisco Chronicle, as much remains unknown about the November 27 accident.
She told DailyMail.com two days after the accident that he was in 'critical' condition following several surgeries.
Just before firefighters unleashed extinguishers on the burning vehicle, Miller was retrieved from the wreck, which now at the center of a police probe.
Piedmont Police captain Chris Monahan warned on December 2 it will 'take some time' to discern the cause of the crash, as the Elon Musk-made car is still new to the market.
California Highway cops further told the website how they are now taking in the investigation, which Monahan said will likely not yield anything monumental any time soon.
He and state officials will likely looking into whether the electric vehicles' batteries exploded or caught fire following the initial impact, creating a situation that is almost impossible to survive.
Jordan Miller, 20, (left, pictured with his sisters Dylan and Maxine, and parents Samantha and Stephen) survived the crash but was badly burned
Investigators believe speed was a factor in the crash, but are still in the early stages of finding out exactly what happened
Piedmont Fire Chief Dave Brannigan previously cast doubt on such a theory the day of the crash, describing the incident as 'more along the lines of a typical car fire.'
The early morning accident happened the day before Thanksgiving, and just days shy of the first anniversary of the start of Cybertruck sales on November 30, 2023.
Brannigan added that he doubted the fire was brought on by the three-ton machine's battery because of how quickly the fire went out. He explained how fires sparked by lithium batteries often require special chemicals to put out, sprayed with vast amounts of water.
Such fires commonly burn for hours, the fire officials said after the large, angular husk was pulled from the street.
Miller, meanwhile, was rescued from the fire by an unnamed Good Samaritan, city officials revealed - not releasing that person's name.
Thanks to their actions, Samantha Miller said she and the rest of her family 'are hopeful for a full recovery' for her son.
Tsukahara was on the school's golf team and competed around the state
Nelson (right, pictured with his friend AJ Harris) was mourned by friends online
Bronson Boyle (left), who shared a room with Dixon at USC, shared a photo of them standing in their dorm room calling him 'the best roommate and friend I ever could've asked for'
'We're just taking it day by day,' she told CBS News Friday, fresh off the college student's most recent surgery.
'As as you would expect, it's a devastating situation,' she added of the preceding two days. 'And you know, we're all thinking about the kids that were lost,' she continued.
'They're not kids anymore, but they still are to us,' she said, adding how she and the other families are grateful for the support they've been receiving.
A memorial site near the scene of the still-shrouded crash continues to draw visitors.
'We have many close friends, and they've been incredibly kind,' the mom shared, as investigators now look into what caused the crash and the fire that followed it.
Dixon (second from left) and Nelson (far right) in a photo from high school
AJ Harris, a Piedmont HS basketball player and friend of both Dixon (second from left) and Nelson (right), mourned both of them with photos of the trio together since they were young kids
Photos of Tsukahara and her friends are pinned to a tree near the crash site
Dixon and Nelson were both players on the Piedmont HS lacrosse team, and a lacrosse ball and stick were left at the memorial in their honor
She further told DailyMail.com: 'Jordan is still critical and in the ICU and he's had some surgeries, and we're hopeful that he is goin to recover. We're just taking it day by day,' she said.
'We have reason to believe he will survive.'
The Cybertruck, meanwhile, faced a stunning six recalls over the course of this year - most recently last month due to a fault in an electric inverter that can cause the drive wheels to lose power.
Other callbacks covered failures with the car's rearview camera technology, which didn't activate immediately upon shifting into reverse.
Another recall revolved around an incorrect font size on the vehicle's instrument panel warning lights.
Yet another involved a fix to the EV's gas pedals after they were found prone to getting stuck in the interior trim.
All four of the teens came from wealthy families whose homes were worth several million dollars each.
