A grandmother was unable to escape a Tesla as temperatures inside climbed to dangerous levels. In footage provided by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office in Washington, the woman had stayed in the back seat of the car while her daughter was busy conducting business in a nearby building. However, the air conditioner was not operating correctly and the grandmother could not open the doors to free herself.
Woman was confined inside Tesla due to “pet safe mode”
On July 14 at 5:17 p.m., a deputy responded to a report from witnesses saying that a woman was trapped inside a Tesla, according to KOMO News and a post made by the official Facebook page for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
When police received the report, the temperature outside was reportedly in the 80s. But by the time the deputy arrived on scene at the parking lot, the temperature inside the vehicle had climbed to 100 degrees.
An investigation into the incident revealed that the Tesla was operating in “pet safe mode,” which is meant to turn on the air conditioner while preventing animals from escaping the vehicle. With the AC broken, however, the automatic safety function had turned the car into a death trap, with the grandmother being trapped inside the vehicle for nearly an hour.
Since the woman could only speak Spanish, the deputy used an online translation tool to communicate with her. The video shows that he attempted to pull the handle on the passenger’s side door, but it was locked. While another deputy arrived to assist, they still couldn’t get the woman out of the vehicle.
Fortunately, 15 minutes after the deputy had arrived, he was able to track down the granddaughter among the numerous businesses in the building nearby and directed her to come with him to the vehicle quickly. The granddaughter unlocked the car, and the grandmother was finally able to get out and cool down.
One commenter was worried that a modern car like a Tesla could put them in a similar situation: “This video is my very excuse to my husband (who keeps trying to force a new vehicle on me). I am sticking with my 96 ford explorer until the wheels falls off.”
