Federal authorities are currently investigating the crash that killed a family of four

A car drives past the scene where four people – a mother, a father and two children under 15 – were killed Wednesday evening when the electric vehicle they were driving crashed on Foothill Road near Stoneridge Drive in Pleasanton crashed into a tree and caught fire in California, authorities said Thursday. April 25, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

PLEASANTON — A crash that killed a family of four last month is under investigation by federal investigators who are examining the electric vehicle they were driving.

Rincy George, 41, and her husband Tarun George, 41, along with their sons Rowan George, 13, and Aaron George, 9, died in the accident on April 24. The vehicle crashed into a pole and a tree and caught fire. All four were residents of Pleasanton.

The accident occurred on Foothill Road near Stonebridge Drive.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Board is investigating the car driven by the family, a VinFast VF-8. VinFast, LLC is an automaker based in Vietnam founded in 2017.

Emails and calls to the company were not answered.

According to a complaint available on the NHTSA website, the car left the road and struck a pole and a tree. The report was filed by a person who claimed to have owned the vehicle, according to the filing on the NHTSA website, which shows a colleague of the owner was driving the vehicle.

“Specifically, NHTSA’s special accident investigations … will document the circumstances of the accident and the resulting fire,” NHTSA said in a statement sent to that organization. “The authority generally does not comment on ongoing investigations.”

According to the NHTSA, the person who filed the report stated that the steering wheel was “automatically maneuvered in the correct direction.” This person also said that the error occurred again when the lane departure warning system was activated by default and moved the steering wheel automatically.

The person who filed the report “was concerned that the error occurred again while the colleague was driving” and caused the accident, NHTSA said.

The vehicle had advanced driver assistance features, but it remains unclear whether these were responsible for the accident.

Pleasanton police investigators previously said the driver of the car may have been speeding, which may have played a role in the crash.

Both boys attended Pleasanton public schools – the oldest at Thomas Hart Middle School and the youngest at Donlon Elementary School. Hundreds attended a vigil for the family on April 28.

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