My 45 year old landlady was driving her Telsa on a residential street 40km speed limit. It suddenly veered left over the curb hit a large 3'x3' metal electrical box tearing it open. The car continued to accelerate hitting 2 other cars parked on the street. All vehicles were totaled. One side of her Telsa was badly damaged around the wheel well and the tire on the other side was torn off the car. According to her the car was accelerating and did not stop until the wheel was torn off. Her elderly mother was burnt when her air bag deployed. She says she was applying the brake to no avail and hit the P button which I assume meaning she was attempting to get it out of gear. She was charged with Careless Driving which she intents to fight.
I had seen other on line accounts of other Telsa with unwanted acceleration. Rightly or wrongly Telsa response is that it is impossible not that anyone is naïve enough to think they would accept responsibility even if they knew differently. World doesn't work like that. So obviously the first judgement is going to be that she hit the gas instead of the brake Who knows. Is there a way to see from the car data if the break was applied at the time of the collision and should the car have stopped after the first collision. Any input would be helpful in her defense .
My understanding is that the insurance is having the car checked I assume by Telsa .I assume she should be entitled to any data they might know how to access but who knows ,They no doubt won't want to disclose any thing that might hold them liable. Any thoughts or input would be most helpful in this matter. Thank you in advance
She needs an excellent lawyer focused on traffic accidents, at best e.v. issues, have the car inspected by an e.v. savy engineer and sue Tesla (when she was not on the accelerator pedal)....
When people get millions for being burned by spilled hot coffee, there should be a considerable sum pending...
that lady was quite horribly mutilated by the coffee. It's an interesting case you should look it up. the "millions" is BS.
should the car have stopped after the first collision
cars "should" do a lot of things when they're operating as intended. Unfortunately collisions do weird things.
I assume she should be entitled to any data they might know how to access
I wouldn't assume anything. She handed the car over to the insurance company. They abide by the legal terms and conditions on the policy contract she signed.
Is there a way to see from the car data if the break was applied at the time of the collision
Depending how bad the damage was, I would conduct my own investigation. Nobody is going to do it for you, and nobody else has YOUR best interests in mind. Everyone else serves their own purpose.
https://crashdataforensics.com/
Perhaps you can find out what information your car has on you from https://vehicleprivacyreport.com/
You put in your VIN and it will give you info on what your manufacturer is recording/tracking. Here's an article on it:
https://www.wired.com/story/car-data-privacy-toyota-honda-ford/
