It was a Monday afternoon in June 2023 when Rita Meier, 45, spoke via video call. She recounted the last time she had seen her husband, Stefan, five years earlier. He had been leaving their home near Lake Constance, Germany, traveling to a trade event in Milan.
Meier remembered how he debated whether to take his Tesla Model S or her BMW. He had never driven the Tesla such a long distance before. After reviewing the route for charging options, he decided to try it. Rita felt uneasy but stayed home with their three children, the youngest under a year old.
At 3:18 p.m. on May 10, 2018, Stefan Meier lost control of his Model S on the A2 highway near the Monte Ceneri tunnel. Moving at about 100 km/h (62 mph), the car struck multiple road markers and signs before hitting a slanted guardrail. Investigators later reported that the impact sent the vehicle airborne, flipping it several times before it landed.
The wreckage came to rest over 70 meters away, on the opposite side of the road. Witnesses said the Model S caught fire midair. Several people attempted to open the doors but could not release them. Seeing flames and hearing explosions, they stepped back. By the time firefighters arrived 20 minutes later, there was little they could do as the Tesla burned.
At the time, Rita Meier knew nothing of the accident. She called her husband repeatedly, but he never answered. When he still hadn’t responded hours later—uncharacteristic for the devoted father—she tried tracking the car using Tesla’s app, but it no longer functioned. By the time police arrived at her door late that night, she had already begun fearing the worst.
The incident became one of the earliest fatal Tesla crashes reported in Europe. The company issued a statement expressing condolences and confirming cooperation with authorities.
Years later, Meier still does not know exactly what happened. She has kept all documents from the inconclusive police investigation. The burned wreckage remains in a rented garage, while the fire-damaged phone—analyzed forensically at her own expense without answers—sits in a drawer at home. She hopes that one day, these pieces might help uncover the truth.
Rita Meier was among those who contacted CuriosityNews after it began reviewing leaked documents—23,000 files and 100 gigabytes of confidential data—provided by an anonymous source. The initial reports examined concerns related to Tesla’s autopilot system, which enables vehicles to steer, brake, and accelerate autonomously.
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