An incident involving a Tesla vehicle has drawn attention to the car’s design and functionality. Angela Chao, a 50-year-old shipping magnate and sister-in-law to Senator Mitch McConnell, drowned after her Tesla accidentally reversed into a pond near Austin, Texas.
The unfortunate event took place on February 11. Chao, while attempting a three-point turn, accidentally put the vehicle in reverse instead of drive. The car plunged over an embankment and into a pond, a lethal error that was not the first Chao experienced with the car’s gearshift system.
Chao was en route to her private ranch, approximately 900 acres in Blanco County, Texas, roughly 12 miles from Austin. She had just celebrated the Lunar New Year with her friends.
Shortly after departing the party, Chao informed one of her friends that her Tesla Model X SUV had ended up in a pond. Before help could reach the isolated location, Chao drowned.
Chao admitted to her friend that she had mistakenly put her car in reverse rather than drive, an error she had previously made.
The details of how Chao’s Tesla ended up in the pond have not yet been disclosed by authorities. This has led to speculation, including from J. Kyle Bass, a notable hedge fund manager and the founder of Texas-based Hayman Capital Management. He has questioned whether the Tesla could have been compromised through hacking.
However, in March, officials in Texas disclosed that Caio was under the influence of alcohol during her accident. The findings of a toxicology test indicated that Chao’s blood-alcohol level reached .233, as documented by the Blanco County Sheriff’s Office.
This concentration significantly exceeds the legal limit for driving on Texas’s public roads by nearly three times.
According to a security video taken outside a guest house on the property, it was observed that she was walking unsteadily towards her vehicle that night, as mentioned in the report.
The incident triggered a closer look at Tesla’s gearshift design, which some drivers find perplexing and potentially hazardous. A search of the US Department of Transportation’s database shows 12 complaints specific to Tesla vehicles accidentally being put in reverse. Seven of these complaints point to confusion caused by the gearshift’s design, while the rest involve vehicles unpredictably switching between drive and reverse.
This issue extends beyond a single model or instance of driver error. Tesla owners have voiced similar experiences of confusion and near accidents on Tesla forums. In 2022, Tesla owners reported near-accident instances due to gearshift confusion, pointing to a wider concern among the electric vehicle’s users.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Tesla have faced criticism over these issues. Tesla’s gearshift mechanisms differ by model and production year. Earlier models used a stalk to the right of the steering wheel for gear shifting, a design some drivers found counterintuitive. Models produced after 2021 replaced this with a touchscreen method for gear selection, which has also received complaints for being unintuitive and causing minor incidents.
Apart from gearshift confusion, Tesla has also been scrutinized for its autopilot feature. This includes “phantom braking,” where vehicles unpredictably brake for non-existent obstacles. The NHTSA has launched investigations into this issue, with over 700 complaints filed. Phantom braking has resulted in at least one fatality and numerous safety concerns from Tesla drivers and safety experts.
Tesla’s approach to car design, especially its reliance on software and touchscreen interfaces for essential functions like gear shifting and vehicle control, has led to questions about user safety and the clarity of the vehicle’s operating systems. Despite these concerns, Tesla continues to advance and redefine the boundaries of electric vehicle technology.
Debate continues around Tesla’s design choices and the user experience they create. As electric vehicles become increasingly common on the roads, ensuring their safety and usability continues to be a crucial concern for manufacturers, regulators, and drivers.
