Copyright © HT Media Limited
All rights reserved.
Tesla tale of woes in China continues unabated as a Model Y recently became yet another electric vehicle (EV) from the US-based company to be involved in an unfortunate accident that turned tragic. Tesla vehicles have been under the spotlight for what is believed to be systems' malfunction that have resulted in accidents.
In the latest incident that took place on Monday, the driver of a Tesla Model Y reportedly lost control of the EV as it sped past a traffic signal before crashing. The incident took place in the city of Taizhou in China's Zhejiang province. Video of the incident became viral on Chinese social media site Weibo and showed the Tesla Model Y racing past the traffic intersection. While the eventual impact was not captured on video, it is reported that the EV crashed into another vehicle which, in turn, collided against pedestrians in the vicinity. While two people were killed, at least three others were injured.
Local authorities are investigating the incident but pinning the blame may become tough as in the past, drivers of crashed Tesla have blamed the EV itself. These EVs come with a long list of cameras, radars and sensors which allow for the vehicle to control and manage various drive-related functionalities. While Tesla maintains that a driver has to have his or hands on the steering and pay attention at all times, it may not matter if there is a malfunction on board.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been a very vocal advocate of self-driving technology and has even claimed that such technology negates chances of human errors. But a green signal for 100 per cent autonomous driving on public roads is still awaited, even in the home base of the US.