Tesla wins brake failure defamation lawsuit as court deems speeding driver at fault
During the Shanghai Auto Show in 2021, one Tesla owner got on the roof of a Model 3 wearing a T-shirt that says "Brake failure."
The stunt was meant to attract attention to an incident with her father, who she claims crashed into several cars because the Tesla accelerated instead of stopping.
This began a series of such claims there, including people blaming their Tesla's Autopilot for their drunk DUI accidents.
Tesla then filed a defamation lawsuit against Ms. Zhang and the local District Court now confirmed a ruling in its favor:
In this case, Ms. Zhang did not provide any evidence to prove that the vehicle involved in the case did have a brake failure. She also clearly admitted in the trial that the brake failure she claimed when she carried out the behavior involved in the case was her subjective judgment, and Tesla has never admitted this fact.
Moreover, the court found that the Ms. Zhang's father, the Tesla driver at the time, was actually at fault as he didn't maintain proper difference from the car in the front, and ordered Zhang to pay the equivalent of $23,810 for the brand damage she caused with the "Break failure" publicity stunt.
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