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A recent class action lawsuit accuses Tesla of selling vehicles with a defect that causes unexpected and dangerous acceleration.
Numerous plaintiffs have lodged their claims in the Tesla class action lawsuit, arguing the Model X, Model S and Model 3 can accelerate suddenly without the driver’s doing. The defect allegedly produces full power and acceleration, even if the driver is not pressing the acceleration pedal.
“Tesla has been intentionally overlooking a dangerous problem while rushing its vehicles to market, and this is not even its first time doing so,” the plaintiffs argue in their Tesla class action lawsuit.
“This defect is recurring: It has manifested at a staggering rate in Tesla’s Model X and Model S vehicles, and now examples of sudden uncommanded acceleration […] are appearing in the Model 3 as well.”
Tesla was founded by Elon Musk in 2006, with the promise of providing mass produced electric-powered vehicles at an affordable price. Although the Roadster, Model S and Model X have become popular luxury vehicles, the more affordable Model 3 has only recently been distributed.
Although Tesla vehicles, including the newer Model 3, have been described as “computers on wheels,” the plaintiffs argue that something is seriously wrong with the vehicles and has been for many years.
According to the plaintiffs, the integrated electronic hardware and operating software of Tesla’s 2013-2020 Model S, 2016-2020 Model X, and 2018-2020 Model 3 all suffer from a defect which causes the unexpected acceleration.
More recently, the issue was reportedly exposed in a high profile case where a Tesla Model 3 accelerated suddenly, ran off a public highway and struck an office building – killing an office worker in the impact.
In another incident, consumer Hacene Djemil was trying to park his car and reportedly ended up ramming across the parking lot into the wall of a Subway restaurant. Djemil claims that the car accelerated without his input, resulting in serious injuries to his wife and children. The plaintiffs say they have also had similar experiences.
In addition to the high profile cases and the experiences of the plaintiffs, the Tesla class action lawsuit references countless reports with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
To add insult to injury, the plaintiffs claim that Tesla’s own automobile sensors are designed to pin the blame for these incidents on drivers. Even if a driver doesn’t press the acceleration pedal, the vehicle’s sensors allegedly report after crashes that the driver did in fact intentionally accelerate.
“The SUA Defect’s risks are simply unacceptable, and the computerized cover-up is even worse,” the Tesla class action lawsuit argues. “Tesla must be held accountable.”
Unfortunately, according to the plaintiffs, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong with the Tesla vehicles. Tesla vehicles are designed as a “black box,” the plaintiffs argue, meaning that vital information is withheld form both drivers and the general public.
Even though Tesla reportedly collects data from Tesla vehicles every day, vicious competition amongst the tech company and its Silicon Valley rivals reportedly leads the manufacturer to guard this data closely.
“Tesla’s secrecy has made it impossible to pinpoint the precise mechanism of the SUA Defect, much less the individual lines of source code or specific hardware components involved in the failure,” the plaintiffs argue in their Tesla class action lawsuit.
“For now, it is sufficient to understand that these defects are manifest in Tesla vehicles and that SUA events are occurring at a statistically significant frequency that is endangering Tesla owners, occupants, and the general public.”
In response to earlier legal news, Tesla has denied all claims against them, stating that “there is no ‘unintended acceleration’ in Tesla vehicles.”
The company argued the earlier petition against them was filed by a Tesla “short-seller” and their vehicles function as intended.
“We investigate every single incident where the driver alleges to us that their vehicle accelerated contrary to their input, and in every case where we had the vehicle’s data, we confirmed that the car operated as designed,” Tesla wrote in the January blog post.
Despite Tesla’s reassurances, the plaintiffs disagree. The 372-page Tesla class action lawsuit includes a total of 54 claims against the company, ranging from violation of state consumer protection laws, breach of warranties, unjust enrichment, fraud, and more.
Plaintiffs seek to represent a Class of individuals who are current or former owners or lessees of Tesla’s 2013-2020 Model S, 2016-2020 Model X, and 2018-2020 Model 3 vehicles. The plaintiffs also seek to represent several statewide Classes for California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
Did you or someone you know purchase a Tesla vehicle? Have you heard of this acceleration defect? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
The plaintiffs and proposed Class are represented by Richard D. McCune, David C. Wright, Steven A. Haskins, and Mark I. Richards of McCune Wright Arevalo LLP; Benjamin L. Bailey, Eric B. Snyder, Jonathan D. Boggs, Arthur H. Bryant, and Todd A. Walburg of Bailey & Glasser LLP; and Donald H. Slavik of Slavik Law Firm LLC.
The Tesla Acceleration Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Inkie Lee, et al. v. Tesla Inc., et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-00570-JVS-KES, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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22 thoughts onTesla Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Acceleration Defect
I was driving a Model Y and was already at a stop at the traffic light. I had my foot on the break the whole time. I tried to put gear in reverse to straighten out in the lane. The car just accelerated and lunged forward while my foot was still on the break pedal. I could not control the car and banged into the car in front of me.
I was driving a Model Y and was already at a stop at the traffic light. I had my foot on the break the whole time. I tried to put gear in reverse to straighten out in the lane. The car just accelerated and lunged forward while my foot was still on the break pedal. I could not control the car and banged into the car in front of me.
Definitely a lawsuit that involves proof to get any money out of Tesla. For now it’s just a Smear Piece by this lame group, probably underwritten by other auto OEMs and big oil to attempt to destroy Tesla. FUD has been happening for years. This piece is a bunch of idiots that think the digital records and proof of all Tesla vehicles operated are not available to the collector or said data itself: Tesla. This will not go well for the lying parties trying to screw/sue Tesla. This group is obviously going for the shock piece here but also is reinforcing negative views of Tesla and is on the wrong side of history. Screw You greedy hoes, whoever you are! Your FUD pieces should garner nothing but negative reactions. Go attack the GAS powered vehicle makers you puppet butt
I want to join the class action lawsuit
Hello I would like to know how to join the class action suit against Tesla . The S model Tesla 2020 accelerated while my daughter in law was driving it ultimately hitting a pole and a UPS truck almost a fatal accident that did not need to happen. The car only had 18.000 miles on it, tires were destroyed, car totaled.
Were you successful? I was rear ended by a Model S going full speed down a ramp and spent 8.5 months recovering. Please let me know how to proceed
Hello, I was involved in a car accident on December 17, 2020. The accident was caused by a woman driving a 2017 Tesla S model. I was hit going through an intersection of my right of way. The Tesla came at me extremely fast and flipped my vehicle multiple times. I heard her saying to the police officer that the car sped up out of nowhere and she doesn’t understand what happened.
Please let me know how to pursue the exact same case. The model S that hit me accelerated to approx 50mph and I had to be helped from my totaled, flipped vehicle. 3 days ICU, 7 more days in hospital. Over 8 months to recover. Driver claims her Model S juts accelerated on its own. I have the EDR
This just happened to me as well last month. How do I join?
It just happened to me today and crashed my 2020 Model Y. I can’t believe many people are having similiar issue. Please let me know how I can join the Class Action Lawsuit.
How do I join? It happened to my wife few days ago on 4/9/21 to her 2021 model Y. The car got totaled and she is lucky to be alive. Please help us. We want to join the class action as well
My wife’s Tesla had a malfunction on 4/9/2021 to your regenerative breaking system. She was driving out of a park from walking our dog going at 10 to 15 mph to a stop sign and released her foot off the gas pedal and all of a sudden the Tesla went out of control going so fast that she almost lost her life due to the cars malfunctioning. At the stop sign you can only go right or left only, the car kept going straight until it hit a car and a 2 foot concrete based light pole, after it hit the car. Straight to the point that the car malfunctioning caused this accident. Tesla is putting a dangerous product out on the street for people to drive is very dangerous. I personally liked this car while driving it on the weekends with my wife and dog. I’m sure Tesla is putting a dangerous car out on the road and that’s why Probably many more that don’t even make the news. The car only had 1811 miles on it at the time of the accident. Still a brand new car that went berserk. What a damn shame. We should be compensated in someway. My wife and my dog is really lucky to be still alive right now.
Happened to me while. Parking at childcare center
Hi, I had a sudden unintended acceleration incident with my Tesla Model S 2017 on 12/03/20 at ~9:57AM when I was very slowly turning the car left into a parking and just right before I could stop the car to back up the car into an EV charging station in my company’s parking lot, the car thrusted forward climbing over the curb of the median in front of the parking, speeding through the median then heading toward a building before I pressed hard on the brake just in time to stop the car on the driveway adjacent to the building. The car was ~15ft ft from hitting the building and there were tire marks left on the driveway from the hard brake. My car had damages on the driver side from hitting a tree on the median and damage underneath the car from impact on the median is unknown at this unknown at this posting. I am not at fault because my foot was off from the acceleration pedal while I turned my car very slowly into the parking. Tesla claimed there was no error by the car from their analysis of data log. I have a video clip of the unintended acceleration incident from my company’s security camera of the parking lot. Please show me how to join the class action suite. I have registered my complaint of the unintended acceleration with NHTSA.
I also had he same issue with my new 2020 Tesla Model S. On October 12th, 2020, I was stopped at a traffic light waiting for the light to turn green when all of a sudden the Tesla accelerated forward. I had my foot on the brake. The Tesla stopped when it hit the car in front of me. The brakes did not stop the car. Luckily there was nobody got hurt. I have already joined the Class Action Lawsuit.
Hi Nick,
I had a sudden unintended acceleration forward when preparing to back up my Tesla Model S 2017 from a parking area into an EV charging station at my company on 12/03/2020.
Please let me how how to join the Class Action Lawsuite.
Thank you
Tim N.
I just had this happen to me in my new 2020 Model 3. I thought I was going to die! I can’t believe Tesla is not taking responsibility for this. I want to join the Class Action Lawsuit.
I want to join the Class Action Lawsuit