Tesla Faces Shanghai Auto Show Protest From Woman Who Claims Family Almost Died In Accident

Tesla Inc TSLA booth at the Shanghai Auto Show had a surprise protestor climb onto a red Model 3 before being arrested, as per Chinese state-owned media Global Times.

What Happened: The protestor, a woman known to be a Tesla owner, was wearing a white T-shirt with a message written in Chinese that read “Brake Lost Control” in a video shared by the Global Times on Twitter.

A female Tesla owner climbed on top of a car’s roof at the Tesla booth to protest her car’s brake malfunction at the Shanghai auto show Monday. The booth beefed up its security after the incident. pic.twitter.com/ct7RmF1agM

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) April 19, 2021

 The protestor repeatedly yelled “Tesla brake lost control,” before security guards dragged her escorted away from the car, as per Bloomberg, which earlier reported the news.

Bloomberg noted that the woman has previously protested against Tesla’s brake issues. A Model 3 owner, she claims to have nearly lost four of her family members in an accident after the brakes of her electric vehicle failed.

Tesla’s vehicle data however shows the car was traveling at almost 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour) and the car’s braking and emergency-warning systems had functioned properly.

Why It Matters: Tesla’s autopilot feature has come under regulatory probes in the United States due to numerous accidents, some of them violent crashes. Its latest quarterly report released on Monday shows that the average distance per accident while driving on Autopilot has declined year-over-year. Tesla has been voluntarily reporting accident data since the third quarter of 2018.

The safety of Tesla vehicles is also in the spotlight amid a crash in Texas that led to the death of two people. The Tesla Model S involved reportedly didn't have any person in the driver's seat.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 0.13% higher at $739.78 on Friday.

See Also: Tesla China Registrations Tripled YoY In March, Doubled Sequentially: CAIN Data