$Tesla (TSLA.US)$ Another EV fire accident in South Korea, t...

On October 11, 2024, according to the MBC News of South Korea, at around 5:40 pm on the 10th on a national highway in Anseong City, Gyeonggi Province, an accident occurred where an electric car (EV) Tesla caught fire, resulting in the death of the driver.

According to eyewitnesses and videos, the fire was rising from the lower part of the car body, with white smoke filling the interior. The fire was extinguished about 10 minutes after the fire brigade arrived, but a body believed to be a man was found in the rear seat. The analysis of camera footage revealed that only the driver was in the accident vehicle. The fire started from the front of the vehicle after colliding with a wall. The driver is believed to have tried to escape from the rear seat but could not get out of the car. The police are investigating the detailed cause of the accident with the possibility of the vehicle slipping in the rain in mind.

According to the article, in 2020, in a parking lot in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, a Tesla collided with a wall and caught fire, resulting in the death of the owner who was sitting in the front passenger seat and could not get out of the car. At that time, the door on the passenger side could not be opened manually.

In the USA as well, accidents resulting in people being trapped inside the car and losing their lives due to Tesla fires have been occurring one after another. Recently, in New Jersey, the surviving family of a deceased South Korean male has filed a lawsuit against Tesla claiming "vehicle defects" and demanding compensation.

In response to this article, South Korean netizens have expressed comments like "Teslas where the doors won't open when the electricity is out," "If everything is electronically controlled, it's possible that the doors won't open. Maybe we should buy a hammer just in case," "I can't understand why people buy Teslas," "Is it really that difficult to design the doors to be opened manually in emergencies? How many deaths will it take to solve this issue?" "So if an EV gets into a collision, it becomes a coffin. Too scary to ride," "It's scary to think that an EV might come when calling a taxi," "It's like paying millions of won to buy your own coffin," "It's a moving coffin," etc.

[Conclusion]

As shown in the DMV documents, it is not permissible to allow Tesla to roam freely and test drive on public roads at self-driving level 4 (driverless). It is reasonable for the DMV not to approve Tesla operating a robotaxi business.