(Newswire.net — January 7, 2017) — Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors has been sued for an undisclosed amount of money by an owner who blames Model X for crashing into a wall.
South Korean actor and owner of the Model X, Ji Chang Son, claims his vehicle spontaneously accelerated as he tried to park it. The sudden maximum throttle boost resulted in the car smashing into his home, right through the garage wall.
After the accident, Mr. Son posted several photos on his Facebook page, claiming that the car accelerated by itself.
The photo of a smashed Model X amid wall debris quickly became viral, especially after the owner claimed he sued Tesla Motors Inc on Friday, challenging the car’s liability and claiming a breach of warranty.
Reuters reported that the NHTSA has not verified the complaints reference in the lawsuit. The plaintiff insists that the Model X is defective.
Tesla admitted in a statement that “[sudden unintended acceleration – SUA] events are occurring more often in Model X. However, the company said in a statement that it had conducted a “thorough investigation” of the incident and concluded that Mr. Son pressed the accelerator pedal.
According to the manufacturer, the Model X has installed protections against any erratic pedal application within its autopilot feature.
A Tesla Motors Inc. spokesperson stated that “the evidence, including data from the car, conclusively shows that the crash was the result of Mr. Son pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100 percent”, according to Reuters.
Tesla’s autopilot driving system has been blamed in several other collision incidents, including the crash that killed a man in Florida, when Model S slammed into a truck trailer while being on self-drive mode.
On the other hand, a dash-cam video footage released last week shows a Tesla car dodging a dangerous crash thanks to its autopilot mode.