A billionaire CEO died after her Tesla reversed into a pond: Questions this has raised about car safety

On the February 9 weekend, Angela Chao had friends over at her ranch in Austin, Texas. Around 11:30 pm, she bid them goodbye at the guesthouse they were staying in within the ranch, and got into her car to go to her own house, situated within the same property. Minutes later, she called one of her friends to say she had accidentally put her Tesla in reverse instead of driving forward, and the car had fallen into a pond.

Over the next hour, various attempts were made to break the windows of her car or tow it out. By the time officials managed to bring the car ashore and get Chao out, the vehicle was full of water and she was dead. The location of her ranch delayed the arrival of rescue workers, who also did not immediately have divers or a long enough cable to reach her car from a tow truck.

The fact that many car windows today are made of extremely sturdy laminated glass — meant to protect users in car crashes — also worked against Chao.

She is survived by her three-year-old son and husband Jim Breyer, venture capitalist and founder and CEO of Breyer Capital.

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What questions has this raised about Tesla?

Before the fatal night too, Chao had made the same mistake with the Tesla gearshift, putting the car in reverse instead of drive, The Wall Street Journal reported. She was not the only one. Many Tesla owners have complained that the design of the gearshift is confusing.

According to Business Insider, “Tesla owners raised concerns for years about design flaws and seeming malfunctions that caused them to accidentally drive in reverse… Business Insider found 12 complaints related to the Tesla reverse function in a database of automobile consumer complaints kept by the US Department of Transportation.”

According to Quartz, the post-2021 models of the car have a “goofy touch screen and complete lack of indicator and PRND [Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Low] stalks”.

Apart from this, Tesla users have also flagged “phantom braking” by the car when on autopilot mode, where it sometimes applies brakes even in the middle of traffic.

What can you do if your car falls into water?

In May 2023, a 22-year-old engineer died when her car was caught in a flooded underpass at K R Circle in Bengaluru. Your car getting into water can be a very dangerous situation, and experts say the window to act and save yourself is generally between 30 seconds and two minutes.

If your car falls into water, in about two minutes, it will completely sink. In about 60 seconds, electric windows won’t roll down. Your best chance to get out is before that, as once the car is submerged, water pressure on the car doors and windows will make it difficult to open them.

According to experts, if your car does fall into water, don’t try calling anyone for help — like Chao did — as that will waste precious time. Instead, take off your seat belt, roll down the window, and get out from the window.

If the window button is jammed, try breaking the glass, although this can be difficult. Don’t try breaking the windscreen — it is designed to be the toughest glass of your car and will crack but not break enough for you to get out.

If your car has filled up with water before you could get out, wait for a few minutes before you open the door or window. This will give some time for the water pressure inside and outside the car to equalise, and make it easier to open the door. However, this will mean holding your breath as water fills up your car and panic fills you. Getting out while the water level is still below your window level is your best bet.