On November 5, in the city of Chaozhou, China, 2 people died and 3 injured after a Tesla’s Model-Y vehicle allegedly got out of control and accelerated towards multiple bikers on a street. While a motorcycle driver and a teenager cyclist died at the scene, other drivers were injured heavily.
The accident occurred as the Tesla driver lost control of the vehicle while parking the vehicle and sped up across the street on which they were about to park. Following the crash, the vehicle, which the driver’s family blamed for having a malfunction in the autonomous driving technology, stopped after hitting a wall.
While the Chinese police started an investigation into the accident, Tesla officials announced that they would provide all necessary assistance to the police. Examining the footage of the accident, the company stated they had doubts about whether the brake was pressed because while the vehicle was accelerating, the brake lights were off.
Safety experts believe that the vehicle gained speed because the driver panicked and mistook the brake pedal for the accelerator.