On Sunday, Tesla became the center of attention once again due to a ‘runaway’ Model Y that killed two people.
The incident took place on November 5 in the southern province of Guangdong, killing a motorcyclist and a high school girl, according to Jimu News. The scribe posted the video of a car driving at high speeds and colliding with other vehicles and a cyclist.
Tesla issued a statement regarding the incident, stating:
Police are currently seeking a third party appraisal agency to determine the truth behind this accident, and we will actively provide any necessary assistance.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker cautioned in a message to Reuters against believing “rumors.” According to Jimu News, traffic police said the cause of the incident in Chaozhou city is not yet clear. It added that an unnamed family member of the driver said the 55-year-old had brake pedal issues when he was parking in front of his family store.
Tesla claimed that videos showed the car’s brake lights were off when it was speeding. It claimed, citing its data, that the driver never applied the brakes in that instance.
Strangely, this isn’t the first instance that reported a brake pedal issue. Last year, at the Shanghai auto show, an irate customer climbed atop a Tesla to protest the company’s negligence to her complaints about malfunctioning brakes involved in a car accident.
In that case, Tesla admitted that speeding violations were to blame for her accident but promised to better entertain customer complaints. The company said on Sunday that it will assist Chinese police in their investigation of a crash involving one of its Model Y vehicles.