The First Person Ever To Die In a Tesla Is a Guy Who Stole One 443
mrspoonsi sends this news from The Verge:
Elon Musk can no longer say that no one's ever died in a Tesla automobile crash. But few people will be pointing fingers at the electric car maker for this senseless tragedy. Earlier this month, 26-year-old Joshua Slot managed to successfully ride off with a Model S he'd stolen from a Tesla service center in Los Angeles, but police quickly spotted the luxury vehicle and gave chase. According to Park Labrea News, the high-speed pursuit was eventually called off after officers were involved in a fender bender of their own, leaving the police department strained for resources and without any feasible way of catching up to Slot. Reports claim he was traveling at speeds of "nearly 100 mph," but losing the police tail apparently didn't convince Slot to hit the brakes. Instead he sped on, eventually colliding with three other vehicles and a pair of street poles. The final impact was severe enough to "split the Tesla in half" and eject Slot from the car's remains. The Tesla's front section wound up in the middle of the road and caught fire. Its rear portion flew through the air with such force that it slammed into the side of a local Jewish community center and became wedged there.
Wow! (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm amazed at how the safety cage is still there, pretty much undamaged, even if the car was split in half...
Looking at the pictures from TFA, looks like he would still be alive if not ejected from the car (if he could've gotten out before it caught fire)
No wonder NHTSA broke their machine while testing roof resistance
http://www.roadandtrack.com/go... [roadandtrack.com]
Re:Hi speed chase, hum? (Score:1, Interesting)
He's not innocent, he just stole someone's car and then sped it around on the public streets. That's unacceptable behavior in a civilized society, and stealing someone's car could mean the victim losing a year or more's wages that went to the car in addition to loss of job and other things not having a car could cause.