It was a Monday afternoon in June 2023 when Rita Meier, 45, joined us for a video call. Meier told us about the last time she said goodbye to her husband, Stefan, five years earlier. He had been leaving their home near Lake Constance, Germany, heading for a trade fair in Milan. Meier recalled how he hesitated between taking his Tesla Model S or her BMW. He had never driven the Tesla that far before. He checked the route for charging stations along the way and ultimately decided to try it. Rita had a bad feeling. She stayed home with their three children, the youngest less than a year old. At 3.18pm on 10 May 2018, Stefan Meier lost control of his Model S on the A2 highway near the Monte Ceneri tunnel. "The collision with the guardrail launches the vehicle into the air, where it flips several times before landing," investigators would write later. The car came to rest more than 70 metres away, on the opposite side of the road, leaving a trail of wreckage. Several passersby tried to open the doors and rescue the driver, but they couldn't unlock the car. When they heard explosions and saw flames through the windows, they retreated. Even the firefighters, who arrived 20 minutes later, could do nothing but watch the Tesla burn.

The tweet referred to a Post story published Tuesday about Hans von Ohain, a Tesla recruiter who had purchased a car with Full Self-Driving capabilities. Evidence suggests that von Ohain was using the feature when his Tesla Model 3 barreled into a tree and exploded in flames -- which, if true, would make him the first documented fatality linked to Full Self-Driving, The Post reported. Von Ohain's purchase order shows the car was equipped with enhanced features available only to Tesla customers who purchase Full Self-Driving, such as the ability to recognize and react to stop signs and traffic lights.

The following footage obtained by The Washington Post shows Colorado authorities responding to a car crash on May 16, 2022, in Evergreen, Colo. This story is best experienced with sound. Hans von Ohain and Erik Rossiter were on their way to play golf one afternoon in 2022 when von Ohain's Tesla suddenly swerved off Upper Bear Creek Road. The car's driver-assistance software, Full Self-Driving, was struggling to navigate the mountain curves, forcing von Ohain repeatedly to yank it back on course. "The first time it happened, I was like, 'Is that normal?'" recalled Rossiter, who described the five-mile drive on the outskirts of Denver as "uncomfortable." "And he was like, 'Yeah, that happens every now and then.'"