Tag Archives: Car accident

Tesla Model S hit several cars and fell off the ledge

In recent years, Tesla has had major safety issues with its cars that have even led to fatalities. It has happened that a car suddenly stops and causes an accident, and the uncontrolled behavior happened in early December in New South Wales (Australia) when a Model S crashed into several cars in a parking lot.

According to a report by 9 News Australia, the Tesla Model S smashed into several cars and then drove off the ledge on a loading dock. Customers managed to extract two people trapped inside the vehicle, a 59-year-old driver and a 68-year-old passenger who were fortunately not seriously injured.

Police took the vehicle to a garage for an electronic check. It is not yet known whether the driver had full control of the car or if there was a malfunction in the car.

In 2022, a Tesla Model 3 suddenly stopped on I-70 Highway east of Kansas City, causing a collision of several vehicles, which resulted in the death of one person. Some information says that a mechanical issue could be the reason for the loss of power and stopping, but this has not been confirmed. Also, the U.S. authorities launched an investigation following reports of a braking problem that occurred on a number of Tesla cars. According to some owners, their cars unexpectedly activated the brakes for no reason.

This summer, the company recalled over 120,000 cars due to problems with the seat belt warning system. The system is supposed to send visual and audible warnings to drivers when they are not buckled in, but NHTSA has determined that it may not work as intended in some vehicles.

Source: 9 News Australia

Ferrari 488 Pista in the river

At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show Ferrari introduced a car that was influenced by the 488 GTE and 488 Challenge race variants, the Ferrari 488 Pista. It is an expensive car, and one recently, in the Swiss region of Garstattlast, ended up in a river after an accident.

Photos taken at the scene of the accident show that almost the entire car was under water except for the front part. The accident occurred when the driver of the Ferrari 488 Pista lost control of the vehicle and hit a car traveling in the same direction from Zweisimmen to Boltigen. Fortunately, the driver was able to get out of the car unharmed and wait for the police and firefighters to arrive. Pulling the car out was made difficult by the strong river current, but they still managed to pull the car out of the river and onto the shore using a long ladder and a crane.

According to local media, this section of the road is quite dangerous and accidents are frequent. Apparently, drivers do not consider that when the water evaporates from the river, a layer of moisture is created on the road, so the road becomes slippery and often, due to carelessness, drivers lose control of the vehicle.

The Ferrari 488 Pista is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.9-liter V8 engine with 710 hp (530 kW) and 568 lb-ft (770 Nm) of torque. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a seven-speed F1 dual-clutch automatic transmission and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential. It reaches 62 mph in 2.85 seconds, 124 mph (200 km/h) in 7.6 seconds with a top speed of 211 mph (340 km/h).

Source: Berner Zeitung via X

Tesla settles lawsuit over 2018 accident

For years, Tesla has been facing accusations that their cars have caused a large number of accidents, sometimes with fatal outcomes. One of the lawsuits filed over the 2018 crash that killed Apple engineer Walter Huang has been closed by settlement with Huang’s family.

Huang was killed when his Tesla Model X, on Autopilot, crashed into a highway guardrail. His family filed suit, and a trial was set to begin in California this week. However, this will not happen due to the settlement, but if it did, Autopilot and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology would again come under fire and scrutiny.

For years, Tesla claimed that the driver was to blame for the accident, because he was playing a video game before the accident happened. Similarly, in other lawsuits, they have tried to dispute the guilt of their autonomous driving system by shifting the blame to the drivers, claiming that the drivers did not follow instructions to maintain attention when using the system.

The settlement comes at a time when the company is experiencing poor sales results. Since the beginning of 2024, the number of orders and deliveries has dropped, while at the same time the company is fighting with growing competition, primarily from Chinese manufacturers.

Source: The Guardian