The taxi driver who was behind the wheel of a Tesla and who caused a fatal accident in Paris has been indicted this Wednesday for “manslaughter and unintentional injuries by land motor vehicle”. He was placed under judicial supervision and released.
At least one dead and twenty injured
The facts date back to Saturday, December 11, in the 13th arrondissement of the capital, at the crossroads between rue de Tolbiac and avenue de Choisy. The taxi driver was not on duty at the time and was transporting members of his family. He lost control of the vehicle and in particular collided with two pedestrians as well as a glass container. According to the latest provisional report, the accident caused at least one dead and twenty injured.
The driver is a man in his fifties, and a taxi driver for about thirty years according to his lawyer Me Sarah Saldmann: “He is very shocked by this accident. He told me that he lost control of his vehicle. The vehicle raced and the brake pedal was unresponsive. And, at the same time, on Tesla cars, there is no has no handbrake “.
Taxi company G7 said on Tuesday it was suspending Tesla Model 3s, a measure that affects around 37 drivers.
Tesla denies “technical failure”
For his part, the Minister of Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, assured that“at this stage”, there is no element that would support the thesis of a technical problem. The American car manufacturer, assures to have had access to certain technical data and also affirms that there is “no technical failure of his car“.
An argument that the lawyer refutes. “Tesla says that, except the car is under seal, so I don’t know how they went about doing this expertise. I think Tesla is trying to pay attention to its image, which is maybe a little messed up. “ The investigation is continuing. And Me Sarah Saldmann says “rely on the expertise of the vehicle to determine liability. Knowing that in Tesla, there is a USB key that records, and the registration is also put under seal.“