Someone Removed a Key Part From a Crashed Tesla. Now Investigators Can’t Access Crucial Data |
Someone Removed a Key Part From a Crashed Tesla. Now Investigators Can’t Access Crucial Data
The missing component may have stored critical seconds of crash data.
BY LEILA SHERIDAN, NEWS WRITER
Illustration: Inc.; Photos: Adobe Stock
In 2023, a Tesla taxi accelerated to 90 km/h, went airborne, and crashed into a kiosk in the center of Bergen, Norway. Now, nearly two years later, investigators say a critical piece of evidence from the vehicle has vanished, raising new questions about what really caused the crash and whether key data was lost before it could be analyzed.
The early morning crash on May 13, 2023 unfolded in seconds. Dashcam footage from the Tesla Model Y, first published by Motor.no, shows the vehicle reversing into a parking space before suddenly surging forward, jumping a sidewalk, and smashing into the outdoor seating area of Lille Bar. Moments later, it accelerated again—this time reaching roughly 90 km/h—as it sped down Torggaten.
Two pedestrians ran into a nearby supermarket to avoid the car. The driver swerved, struck the base of a monument, then launched up a set of stone steps and crashed into a Narvesen kiosk. No one was killed, largely because the square was relatively empty at that hour, Electrek reported.
From the beginning, the driver—a 12-year veteran taxi operator who was not intoxicated—maintained that “something was wrong with the car.” He was initially charged with negligent driving and had his license suspended, according to Electrek.
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The driver’s attorney, Torkjell Øvrebø, said it is “highly unlikely” that an experienced driver would mistakenly press the accelerator instead of the brake twice in rapid succession. He pointed to the video evidence showing brake lights engaged and called for “a comprehensive independent investigation,” including the possibility of accessing Tesla’s servers to recover any remaining data.
Tesla’s event data recorder (EDR) appeared to support a different explanation. The data showed the accelerator pedal was engaged throughout both collisions. However, the company also acknowledged that it was missing six seconds of data between the first and second impacts, stating that the vehicle stopped uploading information after the initial crash, Electrek reported.
At the same time, dashcam footage showed the brake lights illuminated during both crashes. Norway’s Road Authority attributed this to the vehicle’s automatic collision-avoidance braking system activating but being overridden by continued accelerator input. According to the EDR, no brake pedal input was recorded until the final impact, Electrek reported.