A family involved in a Tesla car crash was shocked to discover they had to pay $23,000 in damages to Elon Musk’s company.
A family from China is in shock after being ordered to pay $23,000 to Tesla following a serious car crash.
The incident occurred when the brakes on their Tesla Model 3 reportedly failed.
This situation has raised many questions about safety and accountability.
The accident involved a Tesla crash.
In February 2021, Zhang Yazhou was a passenger in the Tesla driven by her father. As they approached a red light, her father pressed the brakes.
To their horror, nothing happened. Zhang recalls her father shouting, “The brakes don’t work!”
He tried to avoid hitting other cars but ended up crashing into an SUV and a sedan before finally hitting a concrete barrier.
After the crash, both of Zhang’s parents were hospitalized for four days.
Her father suffered a concussion, while Zhang and her baby niece were fortunately unharmed. However, this was only the beginning of their troubles.
The investigation revealed faults in braking.
After the accident, the local traffic police conducted an investigation.
They determined that Zhang’s father was at fault for not maintaining a safe distance from the car in front.
However, Zhang strongly believed that the brakes had malfunctioned.
She filed a complaint with a local market regulator, hoping for compensation and a refund.
Zhang requested data from the car’s onboard computer that would show what happened before the crash.
Unfortunately, Tesla refused her request. Frustrated and angry, Zhang took matters into her own hands.
She put a banner on her car that read “Tesla brake failure” and parked it in front of a Tesla dealership.
She even used a bullhorn to share her family’s story, but Tesla still did not respond.
Protests led to multiple legal battles.
Zhang’s protests gained attention, and she attended an auto show wearing a shirt that said “brakes fail.”
She climbed on top of a model car to make her point. During this protest, she was detained, but the video of her actions went viral.
In response, Tesla claimed that Zhang was just trying to get more money by spreading false information about the car.
In retaliation, Zhang filed a lawsuit against Tesla for defamation.
She wanted to clear her name and stand up for what she believed was right.
However, Tesla also filed a lawsuit against her, claiming that she was harming the company’s reputation.
Family stunned after being charged $23,000 in damages by Elon Musk’s company following Tesla car crash
As the legal battles continued, Tesla finally released the data from Zhang’s car.
This data showed that her father had been driving nearly 120 km/h (about 75 mph) before the crash and that the brakes had worked to some extent.
After the data became public, Zhang and her family began receiving online threats.
Zhang then filed another lawsuit, claiming that Tesla had invaded her privacy by releasing her vehicle identification number along with the data.
Unfortunately for Zhang, she lost both of her lawsuits.
A court in Shanghai ruled that her comments about the brakes could not be considered reasonable criticism.
She was ordered to apologize publicly and to pay Tesla 170,000 RMB (about $23,000) in damages.
Despite the ruling, Zhang is not giving up.
She has appealed the court’s decision, stating, “I refuse to accept it. As a consumer, I have the right to comment and criticize.”
She believes that her experiences as a user of the car are valid and should be heard.