Now that Tesla and Ignacio Socorro are being sued for the deaths of Nicholas Gabriel Garcia, 20, and Jazmin G. Alcala, 19, we were expecting new facts to emerge only at the judgment. That is not the case. Ian Linder Sheldon gave WPLG Local 10 an interview, and the attorney that sued Tesla spoke to autoevolution about high-speed allegations.
Sheldon shared the video he recorded on September 13 with WPLG Local 10. It reveals the black Tesla Model 3 driven by Garcia overtaking Sheldon’s car instants before the crash. WPLG Local 10 made a very interesting interactive infographic to present exactly what happened with the car.
The media outlet also obtained the police report, which can be accessed in the infographic. According to the case summary, the accident happened on September 14, which must have been a typo. It gives all details surrounding the case. Apart from Sheldon, there was a second witness, Jorge Luis Perez.
According to the police report, the witness said that “he noticed sparks ‘fly out’ from the bottom of Vehicle 1 (Garcia’s black Model 3) ‘when it bounced on its rear.’” Perez also said the traffic light was already red when Garcia crossed it. He tried to extinguish the fire while firefighters did not arrive but felt he “had no impact.”
Photo: Ian Linder Sheldon/YouTube
The police report confirmed what Perez stated regarding the car behavior by saying that “the underbody of Vehicle 1 struck the roadway.” There were gouge marks on the asphalt that are compatible with that. They are in two points: where the car first hit the ground and where it landed again after bouncing, as Perez said it did.
In what relates to the speed, the report included the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) findings after the EDR (Event Data Recorder) was rebuilt and analyzed. The data was retrieved “using a Tesla process to download the data.”
As a part now accused of “wrongful death negligence” both when manufacturing the car and servicing it, perhaps NTSB should contact NFI (Netherlands Forensic Institute). The Dutch institute managed to decrypt Tesla’s data so that it presents all the info collected by the car, not only what the company reputes convenient to release.
Photo: Google Maps/Florida Circuit Court
Five seconds before the crash, the Model 3 was traveling at 68 mph, although the speed limit at Alhambra Circle is 30 mph. The report did not indicate when the driver accelerated from 68 mph to 90 mph. It just mentions that the speed was reduced from 90 mph at 1.6 seconds until 81 mph at 0.02 seconds from the final crash and that the data collection ended at 52 mph.
The report breaks that up a little more. According to it, “the speed through the intersection ranges from 89.0 mph to 87.0 mph. Driver 1 lost control of Vehicle 1, drove off of the roadway(,) and collided with a tree, striking the tree at a speed of 81 mph.” In other words, it naturally started losing speed as soon as its underbody hit the ground. The Model 3 then “rotated in a counter(-)clockwise rotation slowing from 81.0 mph to impact at 52.0 mph.”
The WPLG Local 10 video helps to show that more precisely. The footage presents the Tesla ahead of Sheldon’s car at 0:34. At 0:37, the EV’s underbody hits the ground. At 0:39, the first and the final crashes happen. That’s interval represents precisely five seconds from where the footage starts and when the Model 3 catches fire.
Photo: Coral Gables Police Department
The police report just stated that “Driver 1 lost control,” but there’s no explanation for why that happened. That is what the lawsuit wants to determine, especially after the family reported that the Model 3 already had “controllability/steering” and “suspension” issues that Garcia tried to get fixed on September 9. He also lived two blocks away from the crash site, which means he knew the area pretty well. Despite that, the report’s conclusion is terse and direct: “Driver 1 at fault.”
We contacted Aaron P. Davis, the attorney in charge of the lawsuit against Tesla. Perfectly aware that he and his team will only present all the pieces of evidence that they have in court, we asked him just for a word about the report’s conclusion. Davis kindly told us this:
“Our allegations include factors that extend far beyond just speed. We certainly believe that we have a strong case and look forward to our day in Court on behalf of the Garcia family, who are continuing to grieve the loss of a special young man. Beyond that, we cannot comment on the evidence and issues, which will be revealed during the pendency of the litigation.”
We have also got in touch with NTSB to find out if anything points to a suspension failure, but we have not heard from the board yet. Their final report on the crash is yet to be released, which may explain the silence. We’ll insist on knowing if that is really the case.
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