Elon Musk’s Tesla sued after Model 3 exploded ‘on impact’ after smashing into a tree in New York killing the driver who couldn’t escape in time – as his grieving wife slams the cars as ‘not crashworthy’
Jyung Woo Hahn, 46, of Cresskill, was behind the wheel of a 2020 Model 3 during a snowstorm in Rockland County, New York, when he left the road around 11am on March 12 last year.
Elon Musk’s Tesla sued after Model 3 exploded ‘on impact’ after smashing into a tree in New York killing the driver who couldn’t escape in time – as his grieving wife slams the cars as ‘not crashworthy’
- A woman is taking Tesla to court over a car accident which killed her husband
- Jyung Woo Hahn died after his Model 3 left the road on March 12, last year
- His wife is now suing Tesla, saying the car is ‘not crashworthy’ and ‘dangerous’
A grieving wife is taking Tesla to court over a car accident which killed her husband in a fiery explosion after his vehicle slammed into a tree.
Jyung Woo Hahn, 46, was behind the wheel of a white 2020 Model 3 during a snowstorm in Rockland County, New York, when it left the Palisades Interstate Parkway around 11am on March 12 last year.
His wife, Jiyoung Yoon, says her husband survived the accident but was trapped in the car as it became engulfed in flames. Images of the burnt-out wreck show a charred shell, with much of the interior reduced to ash.
Nanuet firefighters who responded to the crash said the fire was ‘extremely difficult’ to extinguish after the car’s lithium-ion battery burst into flames.
Jyung Woo Hahn died after his Model 3 left the road on March 12, last year
The vehicle left the Palisades Interstate Parkway around 11am on March 12 last year
Following an investigation into a data breach that affected more than 75,000 employees back in May, Tesla has now confirmed that the data breach was in fact an inside job, with two former Tesla employees sharing the company’s sensitive data.
The leaked data included personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers of 75,735 current and former employees of Tesla, as was revealed in Tesla’s data breach notice, which was filed with Maine’s attorney general earlier this year.
At the time, Tesla said the leak was the work of a “disgruntled ex-employee.” As TechCrunch reports, an updated filing with the Maine AG, posted on Friday, now confirms that “two former Tesla employees misappropriated the information in violation of Tesla’s IT security and data protection policies and shared it with [a] media outlet.”
That outlet is German-language newspaper Handelsblatt, which in May published a story that said Tesla had received thousands of complaints and crash reports about its Autopilot features between 2015 and 2022, which it tried to keep hidden. The paper said it got its information from an “unnamed informer.”
The data, which included the Social Security number of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, will not be published by Handelsblatt, which is “legally prohibited from using it inappropriately,” Tesla notes in its updated filing. It includes 23,000 leaked internal documents, including production secrets, customer complaints, and customer’s bank details, TechCrunch notes.
‘The Tesla’s sole source of power is the 375-volt lithium-ion battery, which spans the entire length and width of the floor of the car,” Nanuet firefighters said.
‘This battery was ruptured and was in “thermal runaway”, making [the fire] extremely difficult to be extinguished.’
Thermal runaway is the chain reaction which takes place when a lithium-ion cell enters a self-heating stage. The process is accelerated by rising temperatures, which in turn, release more energy that allows more heat to be generated.
More than 1,000 gallons of water was used by firefighters to distinguish the blaze. Teams were brought in from New City and Spring Valley to douse the fire, the Daily Voice reported.
It was eventually put out around 1pm. Jyung Woo was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jiyoung says the car is not crashworthy, making it ‘unreasonably dangerous for its designed and intended purposes,’ TMZ reports.
The fully-electric Tesla Model 3 boasts a ‘rigid structure’, ‘impact protection’ and ‘very low rollover risk’.
It is also kitted out with autopilot technology, enabling owners to be assisted with ‘the most burdensome parts of driving’, including steering, acceleration and braking, according to Tesla’s website.
It is not clear if autopilot was activated at the time of the accident.
DailyMail.com has approached Tesla for comment.
Jyung Woo’s wife is now suing Tesla, saying the cars are ‘not crashworthy’ and ‘unreasonably dangerous’
Earlier this year, Tesla recalled more than 362,000 vehicles in the US over fears that its self-driving software could cause a crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday that the Full Self-Driving Beta software allows the vehicle to ‘exceed speed limits’.
It is also claimed that the cars ‘travel through intersections in an unlawful or unpredictable manner increases the risk of a crash.’
CEO Elon Musk hit out at the claims, responding to a post on Twitter saying: ‘The word ‘recall’ for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong.’
The company was forced to recall a version of Full Self-Driving in October 2021 after owners reported their cars were suddenly slamming on the brakes at highway speeds after one overnight update.
In 2022 they recalled more than 50,000 vehicles over concerns vehicles in Full Self-Driving had been equipped with a ‘rolling stop’ function that allowed them to proceed through intersections without halting at stop signs.
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Elon Musk’s Tesla sued after Model 3 exploded ‘on impact’ after smashing into a tree in New York killing the driver who couldn’t escape in time – as his grieving wife slams the cars as ‘not crashworthy’
Numerous Tesla owners say they’ve been trapped inside their EVs after they lost power.
Numerous Tesla owners have said they’ve been stuck inside their EVs after the cars suddenly lost power.
YouTuber Tom Exton claimed that his Tesla Model Y ordered him to pull over before it suddenly lost power and left him unable to exit.
Exton followed the instructions for the manual release to open the door, but he said this “somehow broke the driver’s window.”
Another Tesla driver, Rick Meggison, told Arizona-based TV station ABC 15 that he got trapped inside his Model Y vehicle for around 20 minutes on a 100-degree day in June, saying he couldn’t open the doors or windows as the battery had died.
The 73-year-old said that he called his sister who was able to open the passenger door using the Tesla app — but that also cracked the car’s window, he said.
