Court Rules Tesla 'Brake Failure' Liar Must Publicly Apologize

Yes, the former Tesla owner admitted to mistaking the Model 3's accelerator pedal for the brake pedal.

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Steven Loveday

By: Steven Loveday

Oct 12, 2021 at 11:01am ET

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A court in China has told the person who falsely claimed "brake failure" in a Tesla Model 3 to issue a public apology on social media within 10 days. The former Tesla owner must return to the social media platform he used to lie about Tesla and set the record straight.

The court has ruled that the Model 3 driver is 100-percent at fault for the incident, which left him seriously injured. The driver not only claimed that the Tesla's brakes failed, but also included that the car suffered from unintended acceleration. Sadly, that's what happens when you push the accelerator pedal when you intend to push the brake pedal.

The Wenzhou Auto Engineering Society's investigation proved the Tesla driver was at fault, though the driver still took to social media to slander the electric automaker. Tesla filed a defamation suit against the former Model 3 owner after he shared the accident report on social media and asked people to look over the results.

Information from a recent court filing reveals that the Model 3 owner admitted to accidentally pushing the car's accelerator pedal. In fact, it seems the driver initially told the authorities he mistakenly pushed the wrong pedal, but later changed the story to make it seem as if the Tesla was at fault.

The court in China has ruled that the former Tesla owner must pay a fine of RMB 50,000 ($7,700) for damages. The Model 3 driver also must publicly apologize to Tesla within 10 days, and continue the apology for a minimum of 90 days.

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What's very weird here is that the claims should have been immediately reversed at the time of the accident report since the driver had already told the police he accidentally accelerated. The fact that information wasn't released to the media, and the driver was able to disparage Tesla for months even after the admission is concerning.

Tesla is still dealing with the aftermath of several false brake failure claims in China. However, this recent ruling comes as part of multiple public apologies related to false claims and news reports that substantiated the misinformation.

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