An Arlington woman is alleging that a Tesla dealership’s negligence was responsible for her crashing into a Crystal City storefront in September 2024.
Alemzewd Lawgalet, 59, filed a federal lawsuit last month over the crash, in which a Tesla Y slammed into a salon on the ground floor of the Lenox Club apartment building at 401 12th Street S., catching fire and prompting an evacuation.
Lawgalet alleges that dealership employees had told her that the car she was driving “operated the same as a gas vehicle,” but that they had left it on “Insane” mode — a setting that can cause some models to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in as little as 3.2 seconds.
Lawgalet is seeking over $10 million in damages in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, first reported by The Independent (UK). Tesla denies the allegations and says that the plaintiff failed “to take reasonable steps to mitigate her alleged damages.”
WATCH: Here's video🔽🔽from the red Tesla that ran into a business Saturday afternoon on Army Navy Dr. & S. 12th St. The video starts as the car barrels through the intersection toward the store fronts on the ground floor of the Lenox Club Apartments. One person was seriously… https://t.co/315Iu7jMP3 pic.twitter.com/XVeNWei3y1
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) September 23, 2024
Lawgalet, who works at the Federal Reserve Board, said she visited the Tesla dealership at 2701 S. Glebe Road for a test drive on Sept. 21, 2024.
“When Plaintiff arrived at Tesla, she was led to a Tesla Model Y electric vehicle that was already on and the keys were in the car,” the civil complaint states.
Lawgalet alleges that she told dealership employees that she had never driven an electric vehicle before. She said she asked to have an employee accompany her on the test drive, but they “refused.”
Lawgalet wrote that she first became “scared” after she merged onto I-395 and the car “abruptly slowed down” after she took her foot off the accelerator. (She alleges that employees didn’t tell her about regenerative braking, which recaptures an electric vehicle’s energy as it slows down.)
She said she took the Pentagon exit to head back to the dealership and stopped at a red light.
“Plaintiff accelerated when the traffic light turned green, intending to return to the Tesla dealership,” the filing states. “As Plaintiff pressed the accelerator, the vehicle lurched forward at an extreme speed and horsepower compared to the force placed on the accelerator.”
Lawgalet alleges that she lost control of the vehicle, crashing into a storefront and suffering “serious and permanent bodily injuries.”
Many Tesla vehicles have three acceleration modes: “Chill,” “Standard” and “Insane.” The “Insane” setting “provides the maximum level of acceleration immediately available,” according to the Model Y owner’s manual.
“The Defendants’ joint and several acts and omissions described herein constitute recklessness, willful and wanton conduct, and evince a conscious disregard for the health and safety of others,” the civil complaint states.
In response, Tesla wrote that it lacks sufficient information to either accept or deny Lawgalet’s allegations, but that Lawgalet’s injuries “were caused by independent acts or omissions of third parties.” The company alleges that Lawgalet “failed to exercise reasonable care.”
The collision took place about two years after the Shirlington-area Tesla dealership opened in spring 2022.
