On the evening of August 7 last year, a Tesla Model 3 collided with the central guardrail on road 56 south of Dalälven.
When the man reported the accident to his insurance company, he stated that the car had suddenly skidded and that the wheels had locked.
Now, however, information has emerged that this story is not necessarily entirely truthful, reports Gefle Daily.
Read more: New traffic rules on July 1 – it happens with your B driving license
Left the driver’s seat of his Tesla
The man allegedly stopped the car and asked his wife to sit in the back seat.
Then he drove on and engaged the cruise control and Tesla’s infamous autopilot, which to some extent can drive the car itself as long as the driver is paying attention.
With the autopilot on, the man is said to have then jumped over to the passenger side of the car, presumably to test whether the car could really drive itself.
The crux of this is that for safety reasons the autopilot is disengaged after a few seconds if the driver does not keep his hands on the steering wheel.
Just after the man climbed out of the driver’s seat, the autopilot must have been disconnected, whereupon the car crashed into the center rail.
Read more: Higher consumption than promised – best and worst car brands
Charged after ex-wife provided evidence
The man did not tell the insurance company that he was not in the driver’s seat when the accident occurred when he reported the accident.
Now, however, this has come to light after the man’s wife, who is now his ex-wife, has submitted a film of the incident to the police.
Now the man is charged with gross negligence in traffic and gross fraud.
If convicted, he risks having his driver’s license suspended for up to two years. Imprisonment is also included in the punishment scale for the crimes in question.
The man’s insurance company also wants him to pay back the roughly 700,000 kroner they paid out for the crashed car in connection with the accident.
Read more: This is how the Swedish Transport Agency makes it easy for criminals
Read more: May the deadliest month of the year – so many people died in traffic