A family who were involved in a car crash when the brakes on their Tesla allegedly failed have since been ordered to pay the electric car maker more than $23,000 in damages.
Zhang Yazhou, from China, was in the passenger seat of a Tesla Model 3 with her father in the driver’s seat as they approached a red light in February 2021.
As any sensible driver would, Zhang said her father stepped on the brakes – only to allegedly realize nothing was happening.
The daughter remembered her father shouting “The brakes don’t work!,” at which point he attempted to swerve around two other cars. Unfortunately they soon ran out of places to go, and the Tesla hit an SUV and a sedan before coming to a stop as it crashed into a concrete barrier.
According to medical records cited by ABC News, Zhang’s mother and father both ended up in hospital for four days after the crash, her father having suffered a concussion.
Zhang and her baby niece, who was also in the car at the time, were thankfully unharmed, but the family’s ordeal was only just beginning.
Zhang’s family was driving a Tesla Model 3 at the time of the crash (Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty Images)
Zhang takes action against Tesla
After traffic police investigated the crash, it was determined that Zhang’s father was at fault because he hadn’t maintained a safe following distance. However, the daughter hit back as she insisted the brakes had malfunctioned.
She filed a complaint with a local market regulator in the hope of getting a refund and compensation, and requested Tesla send her the pre-crash data from the car – but the company refused.
Describing herself as ‘burning with anger’, Zhang put a banner on her car which read ‘Tesla brake failure’ and positioned it in front of the Tesla dealership in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province. She told her family’s story through a bullhorn, but Tesla still refused to hand over the data.
Zhang made a similar showing at an auto show, where she wore a t-shirt saying ‘brakes fail’ and climbed on top of a model car to gain further attention.
She ended up being detained, but her protest went viral and prompted Tesla to claim that Zhang was speaking out to try and get higher compensation. Outraged, she filed a lawsuit against Tesla for defamation.
Zhang initially sued Tesla for defamation (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Image)
Tesla fights back
In response to Zhang’s lawsuit, Tesla filed a suit of its own claiming that Zhang had damaged the brand by deliberately spreading false information. The company, which is worth $1.05 trillion, asked for 5 million yuan ($684,000) in damages.
Facing pressure from regulators, Tesla released the data from Zhang’s car, but allegedly did so publicly, including Zhang’s vehicle identification number.
The data showed her father had been driving nearly 120 km per hour (75 mph) prior to the crash, and that the brakes had functioned to reduce the magnitude of the collision. After the data was published, Zhang said her family started being threatened online.
She then sued Tesla a second time, claiming the company had invaded her privacy, but she ended up losing both cases.
As for Tesla’s own case; a Shanghai court ruled last May that Zhang’s comments could not be considered reasonable criticism. Unable to prove the brakes had failed, Zhang lost the case and was ordered to publicly apologize, as well as pay 170,000 RMB ($23,000) to cover damages and the legal costs Tesla had incurred.
The crash happened near a red light (Getty Stock Photo)
Zhang’s appeal
Zhang has since appealed the ruling, telling the Associated Press: “I refuse to accept it. As a consumer, even if I said something wrong, I have the right to comment and criticize. I spoke about my feelings as a user of the car. It has nothing to do with damaging their reputation.”
Though Zhang is determined not to give in, Tesla has a history of success in similar cases. Court filings in China indicate that out of 81 civil judgements in which car owners sued Tesla, the owners only won in nine cases.
