Tesla’s safety record has repeatedly come under fire in recent years, but it appears that in at least one high-profile fatal accident the cause was nothing more than old-fashioned driver error. Data published online in China by Xiao Te, a Tesla owner, suggests the driver simply pressed the wrong pedal.
Critics were quick to blame Tesla’s Autopilot system, or brake failure, after the November incident, in which at least one person died and multiple others were left injured when a Model Y tore down a Chaozhou street at high speed.
On heartbreaking footage stitched together using clips from multiple security cameras the EV can be seen pulling onto the road then accelerating violently, swerving past motorcyclists and other vehicles, clipping one person then colliding with a delivery pickup, obliterating it, and finally skidding off the road into a building.
The 55 year-old driver, who survived the crash and was found not have consumed drink or drugs, was quoted in Chinese media as saying there was an issue with the car’s brake pedal. It wasn’t the first time a Tesla owner in China has accused a Tesla of having faulty brakes, but in one other case a complainant was ordered to apologize when the facts failed to back up their grievance.
And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the U.S. also concluded that reports of sudden acceleration in multiple Tesla vehicles in the country was down to drivers pressing the incorrect pedal, as appears to have happened in the fatal Chinese crash.
Data from the crashed car’s recorder shows that the Model Y’s accelerator was held at 100 percent prior to the accident, reaching 102 mph (164 km/h) five seconds before the impact, and that the brakes were never applied, but steering was. The data also shows that the car’s electronic stability control was engaged briefly, temporarily slowing the car to 99 mph (159 km/h), but once straightened up it accelerated again, reaching 101 mph (164 km/h) at the time of impact.
Some commenters have questioned if the driver really could have accidentally held the wrong pedal down for so long, and we still have to wait for the final police report for the official cause of blame. But it appears that this tragic accident comes down to mistaking the accelerator for the brake.
Warning: some people may find the following crash video upsetting