The largest taxi firm in Paris has suspended the Tesla Model 3 car from its fleet after a horror smash where a car veered out of control on a busy street leading to a fatality and many injured.
Taxi firm G7's deputy chief executive Yann Ricordel said an off-duty driver was taking his family to a restaurant when he lost control leading to one person dying and 20 others injured with three in intensive care.
Given the speed and the way the car hit multiple objects as it headed down the street led to suspicions that the car had malfunctioned during the crash last Saturday.
According to French media reports, the car hit a cyclist and three pedestrians before crashing into a van, leading to considerable damage.
G7 said it would suspend the use of 37 Tesla Model 3 cars in its fleet until a police investigation into the case is completed.
Ricordel cited Tesla as saying on Monday that an initial inquiry had ruled out a technical dysfunction of the vehicle.
The G7 executive said the driver had tried to brake but the car instead accelerated and it was unclear if the car was operating in autopilot mode.
Jerome Coumet, mayor of Paris' 13th arrondissement, said on Twitter : "The first elements of the investigation indicated that the accelerator would have gotten stuck."
Ricordel said: "Today, we have two divergent views on the subject. We will maintain the suspension of the Tesla Model 3 while the investigation is ongoing, as a safety measure for our drivers, customers and other road users."
Tesla’s safety record has been questioned in the past over a series of fatal accidents linked to the autopilot driver assistance programme, which can steer, brake and accelerate a vehicle on its own.
The company collects detailed data from the sensors and cameras on its vehicles and has used such data in the past to challenge claims that accidents were caused by malfunctioning technology.
Ricordel said that G7 was in contact with the French government as it awaited the outcome of the police investigation.
G7 is one of Paris' biggest taxi companies, with 9,000 affiliated drivers, who are independent operators who own their vehicles.
