An Arlington woman is suing Tesla for negligence after crashing a car she was test driving into a storefront in 2024. The woman claims that the dealership left the car in “Insane Mode,” causing her to lose control of the vehicle.
In September 2024, Alemzewd Lawgalet, 59, was test driving a Tesla when she crashed into a salon on the ground floor of the Lenox Club apartment buildings in Crystal City, ARLNow reported. The car caught fire and prompted an evacuation.
Lawgalet claims she suffered “serious and permanent bodily injuries” and is seeking more than $10 million in damages.
Lawgalet filed a federal lawsuit last month, first reported by The Independent. The lawsuit says that Lawgalet had never driven an electric car, and that the dealer told her the car operated like a standard gas car.
The lawsuit says that the dealership did not tell her the car had three acceleration modes: Chill, Standard, and Insane. In Insane mode, the car is capable of going from 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds.
WATCH: Here's video🔽🔽from the red Tesla that ran into a business Saturday afternoon on Army Navy Dr. & S. 12th St. The video starts as the car barrels through the intersection toward the store fronts on the ground floor of the Lenox Club Apartments. One person was seriously… https://t.co/315Iu7jMP3 pic.twitter.com/XVeNWei3y1
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) September 23, 2024
Lawgalet took the car on a test drive without a dealership representative present. The complaint says she merged onto I-395 then was “scared as the car abruptly slowed down on the highway,” as she says she was not informed of Tesla’s regenerative braking feature.
She then exited the highway at the Pentagon exit and stopped at a red light. When it turned green, the Model Y car “lurched forward at an extreme speed and horsepower compared to the force placed on the accelerator,” the complaint claims. The car crashed into the Posh Salon.
Tesla filed a response to Lawgalet’s suit when it was pending in state court, saying that Lawgalet had “failed to take reasonable care” and “fail[ed] to take reasonable steps to mitigate her alleged damages.”
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
