Something in this story tells me Angela Chao shouldn’t have been in a Tesla if she really had wanted to stay alive.
…Ms. Chao died at a Texas ranch after backing her Tesla into a pond. “Angela Chao’s death at a private Texas ranch in Blanco, County is suspicious,” Mr. Bass wrote.
Her car reversed itself into a pond and 15 feet under water? That doesn’t read like a conspiracy, unless you include Tesla not being banned for being the sad lawn dart of American roads. Or if you include Tesla’s CEO fraudulently boasting that his cars magically float like a witch duck boat.
Despite holding degrees from Harvard and achieving top positions in U.S. society and business, the news portrays the victim somehow as totally incapable of handling a Tesla gear selector or avoiding harm from reversing suddenly into a pond.
This situation underscores a longstanding concern I’ve been addressing for nearly two decades in presentations, training and writing: highly sophisticated fraud schemes, such as Tesla, can destroy even some of the most high performing and intelligent people.
Individuals who show high talent or intelligence will NOT automatically avoid falling victim to straightforward scams like advance fee fraud (AFF), given a particular set of cognitive vulnerability exploits (e.g. bias). Chao knew nothing about automotive safety engineering, which is why she put herself in grave danger by getting into a Tesla in the first place. We’ve seen similar tragedy especially among highly successful medical doctors who unfortunately trusted Tesla, only to be burned to death.
Chao’s company management, her family, her friends and her asset managers all should have prohibited such an obvious and unnecessary risk to her life.
For instance, individuals with no knowledge of Africa at all are the most likely to suddenly start sending money to “Nigerian princes” in hopes of swift wealth. Chao’s experience with throwing her life away in an obvious fraud parallels this scenario, akin to squandering family wealth in anticipation of prosperity gain or self-enrichment from a smooth-talking African “techno-king” (e.g. South African born Tesla CEO) promising an impossible future.
Without fraud, Tesla wouldn’t exist.
This also brings to mind a recent pertinent technical warning, which should probably get more attention.
A Greek accident investigator is petitioning NHTSA to recall 1.6 million Teslas over their ability to shift from Drive to Reverse without touching the brake pedal.
Would proper handling by regulators of this itsy “BTSI” problem have prevented Chao’s tragedy?
Update March 9th: The WSJ reports
A Mistake in a Tesla and a Panicked Final Call: The Death of Angela Chao. What happened on a remote Texas ranch in a billionaire shipping scion’s final hours
And Business Insider reports on the WSJ report:
Only minutes after saying goodbye, Chao called one of her friends, saying that her vehicle, a Tesla Model X SUV, wound up in a pond after attempting to make a three-point turn. According to the Journal’s account, Chao told her friend that she had put her car in reverse instead of drive — a mistake she had made before — leading her to back over an embankment and into the pond.
And the New York Post clearly implies she died because she trusted Tesla.
…Chao left the guesthouse around 11:30 p.m. to head back to the main house, where her son was sleeping. It was cold out, so she decided to take her Tesla Model X SUV for the four-minute drive rather than walk. But within minutes, she called one of her friends in a panic. While making a K-turn, she put the car in reverse instead of drive, she told them. While going backwards, the car went over an embankment and into a pond — and was sinking fast. Her friends immediately ran to help and one woman jumped in the pond, the Journal reported. The property’s ranch manager and his wife came outside after hearing the commotion and somebody called 911.
She and her friends didn’t immediately call 911. Then first responders fumbled and faced difficulty entering the aristocrats’ sprawling ranch, let alone freeing her from the notoriously defective “deathtrap Tesla“.
Very helpful analysis. Thank you for your continued work in this field!!!
You’re quite perceptive in observing these realities. Consider the case of a fellow doctor whose Model S unfortunately caught fire—a truly tragic occurrence exacerbated by high speed and a dead-end road. It underscores the fact, as you mentioned, that professionals such as doctors may not possess the necessary expertise to make vehicle choices based solely on safety engineering.
And regarding the incident in California involving an individual driving their Model Y over a cliff, it’s another example of lacking awareness in vehicle selection but to an opposite extreme. That doctor was convinced he had chosen the best car for killing his own family. It’s evident that many individuals purchasing Teslas, driven by wealth rather than automotive safety knowledge, clearly end up deceived and often prematurely deceased. While it’s fortunate that the individuals involved escaped with minor injuries due to landing in a soft ocean sand bank, it highlights the importance for young upwardly-mobile Asians to consider various factors beyond mere brand appeal and status symbols when selecting a vehicle for actual “safety”.
Your skepticism is certainly understandable given the ridiculously fast rising Tesla crashes and death tolls.
The fact that emergency responders spent 45 minutes trying to resuscitate her is proof enough that she had been very much alive before the Tesla robot drowned her.
Davi, you’re a fearless champion of truth in your writing. Your muckraking exposes the hidden depths of society’s issues, shedding light on important matters with integrity and courage. Keep up the great work!
I call BS. Tesla murdered her. Evidence is closed.
Criminal until proven innocent. File sealed.
Your articles certainly provoke a reaction! Your bold perspectives challenge readers to think critically about the world around them. Your knack for sparking conversation reminds me of the dynamism of esteemed publications like The New York Times. Keep pushing boundaries and igniting discussions!
The Woodlands, Texas/Spring area have reported many deaths caused by Tesla’s significant automotive errors. People are turning back to dependable European cars and Toyotas. Elon Musk seems to think Tesla is operating as if it’s on Mars, but in reality, it’s still in the experimental phase on Earth. It’s time for Elon and his automotive engineers to wake up and perhaps learn a thing or two from Toyota in Japan.
This reminds me of a comment on another post of yours:
Ugh, like, seriously? The X man is like, totally just some scared base white dude who’s, like, racist and stuff, you know? And he’s all like, “Should I wear spandex or a cape today to hide my fear of a non-white planet?” And, like, his superpower is, like, not getting caught for stealing and lying and junk. I, like, stopped reading when they said someone died. That’s like, super scary real life stuff, you know? Don’t, like, mess with the X man, he’s, like, giving us our fantasy and whatever!
The tragic loss of this highly intelligent and successful American woman due to Tesla’s design flaws underscores the urgency of addressing critical safety concerns. Elon Musk must take full responsibility for defects in designs that led to predictably devastating outcomes. It’s evident Tesla is responsible for ensuring safety of their products, and they must act swiftly to rectify such lingering issues. We owe it to the victims and their families to demand accountability for the past and immediate action to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Safety should never be compromised. Tesla management appears to be many times more cruel and inhumane than even what we saw with the Ford Pinto.
tesla was responsible for the death of this innocent brilliant woman. She did not kill herself. Having owned 2 Teslas I can assure you that IF you release the accelerator, the car MIGHT stop but hers DID NOT all the way down a hill and under 15 feet of water. She had multiple warnings starting with the fact that she had trouble with the reverse before and knew it was designed poorly, also the backup camera came on as soon as she put it in reverse but it would have been a picture of blackness.
The headline speaks truth.