Tesla Intends To Help Chinese Police Reveal Collision That Causes Two People Died

Tesla Model Y involved in a crash in China which was allegedly due to a brake error. (photo: doc. tesla)

JAKARTA - US automaker Tesla said on Sunday, November 13, that it will assist Chinese police to investigate an accident involving one of its Tesla Model Y cars, after local media reports emerged saying two people died and three others were injured when the driver lost control of the car.

Local media, Jimu News, reported an incident on November 5 in the southern province of Guangdong, China, that killed a motorcyclist and a middle school girl. They posted a video of a car traveling at high speed crashing into another vehicle and a cyclist.

"Police are currently seeking a third-party surveillance agency to identify the truth behind this accident and we will actively provide the necessary assistance," Tesla told Reuters in a message on Sunday, November 13, and warned against believing the "rumors".

China is Tesla's second biggest market, and the accident became one of the top trending topics on the social media platform Weibo that Sunday.

Jimu News quoted traffic police as saying the cause of the incident in Chaozhou city had not been identified and an unnamed family member of the driver said the 55-year-old man had problems with the brake pedal when he was pulling over in front of his family's shop.

Tesla said videos show the car's brake lights don't come on when the car is speeding and its data points to problems such as taking no action to apply the brakes throughout the vehicle's journey. Tesla has previously faced claims of brake failure in China.

In a statement to Reuters, Tesla said a car owner in China had been ordered by a court to publicly apologize and compensate the company after deciding that comments he had made to the media about his brake problems were untrue and had hurt Tesla's reputation.

Reuters itself could not immediately verify Tesla's statement.

Last year, a disgruntled customer caused a social media stir by climbing on top of a Tesla at the Shanghai auto show to protest the company's handling of his complaint about malfunctioning brakes involved in a car accident.

In that case, Tesla said the breach occurred because of the speeding driver behind the accident but promised to improve the way it handles customer complaints.