Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, with a Model S car. Photo: Reuters, 2016
In Illinois today, a law firm announced they are filing a lawsuit against Tesla to
hold the electric car maker accountable for a teen who died in an accident
involving a car they say had a defective battery pack.
The lawsuit filed by Chicago firm Corboy & Demetrio claims
Tesla's 2014 Model S sedan had a defective battery pack that was responsible
for the death of an 18-year old passenger in an accident last May.
Some
12 cases of Tesla S batteries spontaneously bursting into flames, while parked
or driving out on the road, have happened in the last five years, the law firm says.
Elon
Musk's electric car company has been in the news over the past year or so with
stories that raise concerns about the conditions in which these Tesla batteries
are produced.
There's
also the whole thing about a Mexican drug cartel dealing meth inside one of the factories where
the batteries are made.
From Reuters:
Last May, a Tesla driven by Barrett Riley with passenger
Edgar Monserratt Martinez crashed into a concrete wall and erupted in flames in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida killing both the teenagers, according to the lawsuit.
The law firm represents the estate of Edgar Monserratt
Martinez.
Less than two months before the crash, Riley’s parents had
a limiter installed at a Tesla service center to prevent the vehicle from
reaching over 85 mph, but it was removed at another Tesla service visit without
his parents’ knowledge, the law firm said.
An additional count in the lawsuit alleges Tesla was
negligent in the removal of the limiter.
It added that Riley was driving the vehicle at 116 mph,
immediately before the collision.
“No car could have withstood a high-speed crash of this
kind,” Tesla said in a statement, adding that its speed limit mode, which
allows owners to limit their car’s speed and acceleration, was introduced as an
over-the-air update last year in dedication to Riley.
The lawsuit also alleges that Tesla “failed to warn
purchasers of its vehicles of the battery’s dangerous condition.”
in
2018, NTSB claimed it was investigating the crash, but no report has been made
public -- and now NTSB and all other federal government agencies are shut down
due to Trump's border wall standoff.
No comments: