Four months after a tragic accident that has been widely shared and commented on, a confidential report gives details of the reasons for the accident.
In November 2022, the case caused a stir: a major traffic accident killed two people in China. It involved a 55-year-old driver and his Tesla Model Y, the driver questioning the car’s brakes. The images were impressive and violent, they had been widely shared on social networks, which had revived the debate around the dangerousness of Autopilot Teslas.
Four months after the fatal accident involving a Tesla Model Y SUV in China, the American automaker conducted an investigation which was recently disclosed. According to the collected data, which should not have been published, apparently, the driver never braked, but only accelerated before the accident.
The driver never braked and instead kept the accelerator pedal pressed
This report was posted on Seibo by Xiao Te (and at first sight it would never be officially put online according to the Chinese media Red Star News), the founder of the largest unofficial Chinese Tesla community. Note that the investigation is still ongoing, so the official conclusions have not been published. Tesla’s report is full of details, it is known that it is a Model Y with 20,000 km and that the driver was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.
The most sensitive aspect of this accident is the behavior of the driver, who never braked and instead kept the accelerator pedal pressed, making the car reach a speed of 164 km/h. The data clearly shows that the driver pushed the accelerator pedal all the way. In short, the accident was caused by a probable error by the driver who confused the pedals.
The driver certainly tried to brake, but his foot slipped and pressed on the accelerator, causing the vehicle to suddenly accelerate. This type of error is very common, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that approximately 16,000 accidents in the United States each year are linked to pedal confusion.
Remember that Tesla has never been held liable for this type of accusation and generally blames the driver and human error.
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