Tesla was quick to contact French authorities to claim that the Model 3 that hurt 20 people in Paris had no technical failures. Naturally, the taxi driver who would consequently take the blame for what happened said through his lawyer that Tesla is wrong. Speaking to Reuters, the attorney Sarah Saldmann revealed a little more about who he is and why he must not be blamed for the wreck.
Born in 1964 and working with taxi cabs since the 1990s, he would be an experienced and cautious driver that never got involved with any crashes like this. The still-unidentified man bought his Tesla only three months ago. According to Reuters, he was off-duty and had taken his family to a restaurant when everything happened. When the Model 3 started to accelerate, it hit a biker – the first confirmed fatal crash victim. To try to stop the vehicle, the driver would have deliberately hit surrounding obstacles, such as the glass recycling container and the traffic light. The police said the own driver told them this story. Three people remain in serious condition. He was tested by the police and was not under the influence of drugs, medicine, or alcohol. Despite that and his good records, he is still under formal investigation, which means that there is “serious or consistent evidence” that he might be involved in a crime. The crash itself would justify that unless accusations are dropped. According to Saldmann, the taxi driver told the police that the Tesla “accelerated on its own.” As much as he tried to stop it, he could not activate the brakes. In other words, the taxi driver still affirms that the EV did not work as it should. With Tesla stating that there was nothing wrong with the car, we still need to see what the crash data reveals. It also has to be checked entirely, not only with what Tesla is willing to disclose. In October, the Dutch investigators at NFI (Netherlands Forensic Institute) revealed that they had decrypted Tesla’s data storage system and discovered that the company only shares what it reputes as convenient.
We also got in touch with Saldmann with some questions about the incident. If she gets back to us, we may be able to reveal more aspects of the crash. They may help us understand why a 57-year-old driver with more than 30 years of experience and no record of serious incidents got involved in such a severe crash – with his own family in the car with him.
Keyword: Tesla Model 3 Accelerated and Would Not Brake in Paris Crash, Says Taxi Driver