Paris’ leading taxi company, G7 has suspended the use of Telsa Mode 3 vehicles within its fleet following a fatal accident involving on of its vehicles over the weekend
The Deputy Chief Executive of G7 taxis, Yann Ricordel confirmed that an off-duty taxi driver was taking his family to a restaurant when the accident happened on Saturday evening.
The accident killed one person. Twenty others were wounded, one of the persons close to the investigation said, adding that three were in serious condition.
According to French media reports, the Tesla collided and hit a cyclist and three pedestrians and then crashed into a van, and seven people were seriously injured.
G7 said it would suspend the use of 37 Tesla Model 3 cars in its fleet until a police investigation into the case is completed.
Tesla has not responded to the incident
Ricordel cited Tesla as saying on Monday that an initial inquiry had ruled out a technical dysfunction of the vehicle. The G7 executive said the driver had tried to brake but the car instead accelerated. It was unclear if the car was operating in Autopilot mode.
Jerome Coumet, mayor of Paris’ 13th arrondissement, said on Twitter, “The first elements of the investigation indicated that the accelerator would have gotten stuck.”
Ricordel said: “Today, we have two divergent views on the subject. We will maintain the suspension of the Tesla Model 3 while the investigation is ongoing, as a safety measure for our drivers, customers and other road users.”
Tesla collects detailed data from the sensors and cameras on its vehicles and has used such data in the past to challenge claims that accidents were caused by malfunctioning technology.
Ricordel said the Tesla Model 3 owners in its fleet would be fully compensated for lost earnings during the suspension and that the company was looking for alternatives so the drivers could resume driving for G7 as soon as possible.
Ricordel stated that the G7 was in contact with the government as it awaited the outcome of the police investigation.
G7 is one of Paris’ biggest taxi companies, with 9,000 affiliated drivers, who are independent operators who own their vehicles. Half of the G7 fleet are electric or hybrid vehicles and the company aims to have a 100% green fleet by 2027.
