NHTSA Complaint #11485773 — 2016 TESLA MODEL X

On Tuesday September 13th 2022 morning around 10.55am EST, I had entered the Hindu temple of Florida premises driving my TESLA model X. I slowly progressed towards the parking spot and made a slow right turn to park the car. At that time the Tesla suddenly accelerated at full speed, took off like a rocket, jumped the curb, knocked down a sign post and jumped into the ditch which leads into a pond. The car veered to the right, jumped out of the ditch back toward the parking spots, hit two vehicles ( a Honda CRV and a Lexus) with a significant force and hit a tree with a big impact and finally stopped. Surprisingly airbags did not deploy. I was wearing the seat belt and was the only one inside the vehicle. Fortunately with gods grace I escaped with minimal injuries. I get nightmares every day since then thinking about how close to death I was. Had the gone gone straight into the pond, I could have drown to death inside the vehicle, had it gone in a different direction and hit those concrete walls of the temple, I could have been crushed. More significant was it did not run over any of the visitors who frequent thaw temple! This sudden unintended acceleration not only shocked me but also shocked several people who were witness to this crazy event. The CCTV footage I obtained shows the car going towards the parking spot and caught the initial acceleration and take off and the big thuds twice that ensue within a few seconds. I have heard Tesla cars were involved in certain freak accidents but never imagined that I could be part of one. I’m uploading a few photos, a video clip and a cctv footage clip for your review. I read reports that Tesla blamed these type of unintended acceleration on driver errors pressing the gas pedal! I’m in total disbelief how in the USA with so many safety standards and accountability, that this can continue to happen. ~ [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).