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Driver of Tesla Model Y Who Drove Off a Cliff Blames EV for Crash

On January 2, a Tesla Model Y flew off "Devil's Slide" in California with four people on board. Dharmesh Arvind Patel was driving with his wife, Neha Bubna Patel, and their two children: a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy. They were taken to the hospital and survived, but Dharmesh was arrested. In February, he pleaded not guilty and said he had just tried to stop to check the tire pressure when everything happened. In other words, the driver blamed the car for the crash.
CHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landed 7 photos
Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office
CHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landedCHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landedCHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landedCHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landedCHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landedCHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landed
A surveillance video states that the vehicle was driving within the lane when it slowed down before turning right toward the cliff. This scenario is consistent with sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) episodes involving Tesla vehicles. As Costas Lakafossis revealed, they happen when the cars are about to park.

The accident investigator discovered that Autopilot brakes and accelerates the cars on its own, which leads their drivers to trust the system will do that whenever they have to stop the vehicle. They even take pride in that "smart" feature in their cars until they realize how dangerous that can be. Lakafossis rented a Model Y and confirmed the vehicle's software decides if it creeps forward or brakes after several tests. There is nothing predictable about how the car will behave, as it would have in one-pedal driving: energy regeneration makes the BEV decelerate as soon as drivers take their feet off the accelerator pedal. That said, the problem has nothing to do with that feature.

CHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landed
Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office
The main problem is that drivers trust the car more than they should and do not keep their feet over the brake pedal. If the car accelerates when it should brake, the panic reaction may lead drivers to confuse the brake pedal for the accelerator and step on it. If you check vehicle data, it will say they pressed the wrong pedal and that it was a driver's error, as it recently happened to a 68-year-old driver who crashed his Model 3 in the Horseshoe Bay BC Ferries terminal in Vancouver, Canada. Vehicle data will say they were to blame. Ask them about that, and they will swear they were stepping on the brake pedal.

To prevent that, the accident investigator petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall all Tesla vehicles to date and apply Brake Transmission Shift Interlocks (BTSIs) to force drivers to always keep track of the brake pedal. China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) started an investigation about that right after Lakafossis's petition hit NHTSA and about the same topic, which suggests the accident investigator's thesis resonated with Chinese authorities.

CHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landed
Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office
Tesla quickly made a voluntary recall in China with the 2023.12.9 update. All cars that receive it will now have Creep as their default stopping mode. In other words, drivers will have to place their feet over the brake pedal because they know the car will no longer brake for them. That should kill the SUA incidents. Sadly, Tesla restricted this change to vehicles sold in China. What if that was what happened to Patel while he was trying to stop his car to check the tires? If the Model Y driver was willing to commit suicide and kill his family in the process, he had nothing to lose. Why would Dharmesh lie about that now?

Documents about the case were unsealed on May 17. According to them, after slowing down, "the Tesla then takes a gradual right turn, plunging off the cliffside. There is no indication of attempts to brake or to turn the Tesla in a different direction." Why would he slow down if he wanted to kill himself and his family, throwing everybody from a cliff?

CHP Golden Gate Air Operations rescue Dharmesh Patel and his family from the Devil's Slide where his Tesla Model Y landed
Photo: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office
It will not be easy for Dharmesh to convince the jury that this was the case. His wife repeatedly told first responders he deliberately drove off the cliff. In the same documents, a California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer said he told him these words: "He drove off. He's depressed. He's a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He drove off on purpose."

Neha Patel has stopped talking to the investigators ever since and said she does not want her husband to be charged with attempted murder. Was she just angry at her husband for what happened or did he really say he would kill her family? Whatever was the reason, It may be too late to backtrack. For the San Mateo County District Attorney, Steve Wagstaffe, "what she said at the time, under the stress of the circumstances, is both reliable and truthful." Wagstaffe disputes Dharmesh's version of the facts based on a "video taken from the tunnel that they came through." According to the district attorney, it "shows the vehicle" and "contradicts that statement." Wagstaffe also believes Neha "will come forward and see that Justice is done." If she thinks there is any possibility that her husband is innocent, she would better do that as soon as possible.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
Gustavo Henrique Ruffo profile photo

Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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