SUV crash in China not due to technical problem, says Tesla
Tesla said it would assist a police investigation into a fatal crash involving a Model Y sports utility vehicle in China earlier in November, while suggesting the incident was not caused by a malfunction.
Data taken from the car showed no proof that the brake pedal was applied before the crash, and video showed the brake lights remained off, the electric car maker said in a statement. Instead, the accelerator had been heavily engaged before the accident that killed a motorcyclist and high school pupil on a bicycle.
Tesla will “actively provide any necessary aid” to the local police probe, which may involve a third-party investigator, said the group.
The November 5 accident in Chaozhou in Guangdong province also injured three people, including the driver. Video of the incident circulated on Chinese social media showed a white Model Y speeding until finally crashing.
A verified user on the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo, posting under the title of “a family member of the driver,” claimed the driver lost control for the last 2.6km. Though he tried to apply the brakes, a technical problem must have caused the accident.
While it is estimated that hundreds of people die on China’s roads every day, crashes involving Teslas attract intense public interest, with footage quickly going viral on social media.
In a protest that caught world attention, a Model 3 owner climbed on a display vehicle at 2021’s Shanghai vehicle show and yelled that she almost died because her Tesla’s brakes failed. The US carmaker, which initially had a red carpet welcome in China, finally apologised publicly after criticism from local authorities and state-run media, without acknowledging any defect to the car.