Model X with child in drivers seat allegedly injures woman

[Leafdriver333]

Can you imagine how many lawsuits will be filed against Tesla everyday when FSD is released?

 

[Dr. J]

If they idiot proof it due to this lawsuit, I hope they add “I am not an idiot” mode for the rest of us.

Tesla makes it idiot-proof, then America makes better idiots.

 

[Dr. J]

The mystery here seems to be the weight on the seat (or perhaps Mom left the seat belt buckled). Perhaps the kid was kicking the seat cushion while lodged between the seat and pedals? Or Mom has a heavy purse and left in the seat, perhaps. Or moved the car seat to the driver's seat.

 

[bigroccrek]

Sounds like she should keep a better eye on her kid. But......it is in the Republik of Kalifornia so she will most likely win her lawsuit. No Gloria Allred sighting yet? This is a great opportunity for Gloria's typical grandstanding.......sickening!!!

 

[gnuarm]

Yeah, but can the toddler reach the door handles? I guess the toddler could grab mommy's keys, and run over and have the door autopresent...

If my car is any indication of that, the kid only has a 50/50 chance of that working.

 

[MXWing]

If my fool children take a step in a direction I don’t want them to, I yell ONE!!!! really loud. Rarely do I get to TWO!!!! and only THREE! once, many years ago.

Just pathetic parenting, nothing to see here folks.

 

[MavenY]

Sorry if that was a clickbait title, but this just gets to me:

New lawsuit against Tesla alleges that a Model X pinned a pregnant woman against a wall, breaking her bones and sending her into premature labor (TSLA)

My news aggregator showed me that story last night since it knows I enjoy reading Tesla news, and it just makes me sick. I mean we clearly have a case of a woman that had no control over her two year old child and the child drove the car into her. I know this may sound harsh, and I sympathize with the difficulty of being a parent (I have three young kids myself), but it's fools like this that want to make the entire world idiot proof that prevent decent individuals from having nice things. This is not the view of a Tesla apologist; rather, it's a plea for people in these types of situations to own responsibility for their (and their children's) actions. This could be any car company and it would be just as wrong.

/rant

Terrible story but this could have happened to anyone with any car. The media hears the word "Tesla" and they just start their anti-Musk rhetoric. Two year olds are unpredictible, and fast.....you know, "it just takes a second." Sounds like this was the case. Moms are busy, easily distracted, trying to accomplish everyday tasks with a rambunctious toddler in tow. It's hard to know what happened but as we all know, the media, slick attorneys, and corporations will spin their own narritive. A retired CHP officer told me once that cars are the most dangerous weapon humanity has every created; cars kill, injure and main more people than guns, bombs, knives, etc. Yes, I think the Tesla can and will prevent more tragic accidents than it will allegedly creat. Again, sad story that could have been much worse.

 

[Daniel in SD]

It’s funny that product liability lawsuits are almost universally hated. But when they go before a jury they are often decided in the plaintiffs favor. It’s almost like after hearing the actual evidence people change their minds.
Tesla has settled unintended acceleration lawsuits before and they will likely settle this one. This seems much more legit to me than those. Having a car that can be started by a two year old (who doesn’t have the key) seems like a serious flaw in the safety interlocks.
Product liability lawsuits against coporations encourages them to make safer products which benefits everyone.

 

[gnuarm]

I think I need to make one thing clear here: there is a wide gulf between whether or not this woman committed gross negligence (your words, not mine), and culpability on Tesla's part. This seems to be a large part of the problem with today's litigious society - the conflation of blame with wrongdoing. I never said that this woman was grossly negligent. Do I believe she carries culpability? Yes. Do I believe there could be additional safety measures applied to engage a drive mode on a Tesla? ...maybe, but there are already many that were being either deliberately or inadvertantly bypassed. Could you ask the same question of literally any system that operates at a hazard to life or health? Absolutely.

The issue here is that the law should not be required to step in when this woman should have known what might happen when her son gets behind the wheel of the car. My oldest son pushed his younger sister off a playground bridge at the age of 4 at a height of at least 4-5 feet. She could have broken her neck from the fall. Should I blame the playground equipment manufacturer for making this possible? I have never thought to do so. On the contrary, it remains a life lesson of my own to this day.

Posts like this always bug me. Oversimplifying a complex issue. There may well be reasons to hold those who design and make playgrounds responsible for the safety of that equipment. Likewise a car should not be so easy to start and put into gear.

Many years ago a neighbor put her kid in the car and ran back into the house for a moment. Unfortunately she left the engine running, a clearly bad idea that no one should ever do. The kid managed to grab the gear shift and the car rolled back into my car on the other side of the street. In the case of the model X, the car was off, parked and anyone would think it should be a bit harder than a 2 year old could manage to do to turn the car on and cause it to start moving! The issues of the car being enabled by remote devices and so easily manipulated into gear can create problems that would not be expected by most people because it is so different from other cars we are accustomed to.

I believe most of the controls on the car are not well designed and easy to manipulate wrongly. It is not infrequent that I mix up the two left side stalks since the movements are virtually identical. The autopilot control should be on the right side next to the gear shift. The gear shift should probably be something very different. Perhaps a much stiffer movement, a shorter stalk or even buttons on the dash. Oh, that's right, we can't have buttons on the dash, that's so 20th century.

 

[gnuarm]

Maybe she's daughter of that woman who years ago had sued some fast-food company just because she dropped hot beverage on her lap while driving & claimed there were no instructions on the cup stating about the beverage inside it maybe hot.

It's amazing how little people know about something they are happy to comment on publicly.

"Mrs. Liebeck was not driving when her coffee spilled, nor was the car she was in moving. She was the passenger in a car that was stopped in the parking lot of the McDonald’s where she bought the coffee. She had the cup between her knees while removing the lid to add cream and sugar when the cup tipped over and spilled the entire contents on her lap.

The coffee was not just “hot,” but dangerously hot. McDonald’s corporate policy was to serve it at a temperature that could cause serious burns in seconds."

"Liebeck’s case was far from an isolated event. McDonald’s had received more than 700 previous reports of injury from its coffee, including reports of third-degree burns, and had paid settlements in some cases."

The issue was not about warnings or that the spill was caused by Mcdonalds, but that the company required there restaurants to serve the coffee at 180 degrees, much hotter than you can drink it and hotter than coffee in restaurants, etc.

"An expert witness for the company testified that the number of burns was insignificant compared to the billions of cups of coffee the company served each year."

The jury awarded such a large amount because the felt Mcdonalds did not consider the harm caused by this issue for the 700 people injured. In other words, they did the same sort of cost analysis that Ford did in the Pinto by not cutting off the protruding bolts as it would cost more than the awards they would have to pay in accident law suits to the people and families of the many burn victims.

 

[gnuarm]

I’d be curious if there has ever been another case of a 2 year old starting a car, putting it into drive, and accelerating. Some of you are acting like the mother is an idiot for not considering this possibility.

We could pass some laws to make it illegal for 2 year olds to drive, that will stop the problem. Oh, wait...

 

[gnuarm]

Terrible story but this could have happened to anyone with any car. The media hears the word "Tesla" and they just start their anti-Musk rhetoric. Two year olds are unpredictible, and fast.....you know, "it just takes a second." Sounds like this was the case. Moms are busy, easily distracted, trying to accomplish everyday tasks with a rambunctious toddler in tow. It's hard to know what happened but as we all know, the media, slick attorneys, and corporations will spin their own narritive. A retired CHP officer told me once that cars are the most dangerous weapon humanity has every created; cars kill, injure and main more people than guns, bombs, knives, etc. Yes, I think the Tesla can and will prevent more tragic accidents than it will allegedly creat. Again, sad story that could have been much worse.

Really? How many cars can be started by a two year old??? I've never had one. But I guess I do now.

 

[stonelance]

I have a personal policy to never walk between a car and another car or wall if someone is in the driver seat. I've heard of too many times where someone gets pinned like this.

 

[Scott7]

Surprised no one has mentioned this story is from Linette Lopez.

 

[Daniel in SD]

I have a personal policy to never walk between a car and another car or wall if someone is in the driver seat. I've heard of too many times where someone gets pinned like this.

It sounds like your personal policy won’t work if the person is in the footwell and you can’t see them.

 

[gnuarm]

I have a personal policy to never walk between a car and another car or wall if someone is in the driver seat. I've heard of too many times where someone gets pinned like this.

I tend to do the same thing. You never know what a driver is about to do.

 

[gnuarm]

cars kill, injure and main more people than guns, bombs, knives, etc. Yes, I think the Tesla can and will prevent more tragic accidents than it will allegedly creat. Again, sad story that could have been much worse.

I think gun deaths have caught up with cars.

 

[vickh]

We've been asking for electric chargers at my work for a while now. We have 110 outlets, but we've offered to pay for the installation of a couple level 2 chargers and have gotten pushback. We have only about 100 employees and 11 or 12 electrics.

One of the managers said it's because the chief hates Tesla because his daughters car ran her over.

i've been asking too. but even though tesla will install for free, we don't own. Also it's just 3 Teslas out of maybe 500 cars. Plus we rent. Any good strategies?

 

[sg021]

Perfect name for the new baby.

Did I miss something? Are they saying the toddler OPENED the drivers door?? There's NO way a 2 yr old could open the drivers door- NOooo WAY.

Edit: sorry - it's an X.. my bad

You would be surprised what kids are capable of. My son was able to open the model 3 doors by himself when he was still 2, and usually insists on opening his door and climbing into his car seat when we go somewhere. He is probably only around the 20th percentile for height, too.

 

[Runnergirl]

You would be surprised what kids are capable of. My son was able to open the model 3 doors by himself when he was still 2, and usually insists on opening his door and climbing into his car seat when we go somewhere. He is probably only around the 20th percentile for height, too.

lol believe me, we know... 6 kids.. none ever pinned us with a car though...