Two women died when a Tesla electric vehicle (EV) crashed into an apartment building in White Plains, New York. Three other people were injured when the car spun out of control and burst into flames after colliding with the building after hitting a curb and a tree. White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong told reporters that two badly burned women’s bodies were retrieved from the wreckage and were later identified as 70-year-old driver Millie Sheehan and 36-year-old passenger Diana Sheehan. Both women were residents of Hartsdale, New York.
Ron Williams, who lives in an apartment that was damaged in the crash, thanked God neither he nor his grandson were at home at the time. Fellow resident Yesica Genis described the incident as “scary” and “pretty sad.” Investigators say the two women had just dropped Diana’s young kids off at school when the incident happened. Investigations are ongoing, but resident Bob Kraus suggested that the driver was likely traveling at “substantial speed,” given the extent of the impact. He conceded, however, that he could not know whether this was driver error or a fault with the vehicle.
Zaneta Williams, who also lives in the affected apartment building, said the car crashed right into her son’s bedroom, which was “completely burnt out.” A woman who was walking by at the time sustained a shrapnel injury and was hospitalized, while two other individuals were treated by paramedics at the scene.
Despite some initial rumors that electric vehicles were disproportionately likely to burst into flames on impact, more recent statistics suggest this is untrue. A report in July this year found that Teslas are, in fact, ten times less likely to experience a fire than gas cars. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics found that the probability of a fire in a Tesla Model S, for instance, is 1 in 157,000. The figure for gasoline-powered cars is 1 in 6,500.
Additionally, studies have found that the Tesla battery pack design minimizes the risk of a “thermal runaway” and that the “safety features and design of Tesla vehicles contribute to lower fire incidents.” Thermal runaway refers to a process where temperature increases release energy that spur yet higher temperatures.
