‘Our worst nightmare’. There’s no shortage of scary car stories on social media. Whether it's brand new Chevy Traverse transmissions failing on family vacations, or Teslas locking drivers inside a single-person greenhouse during a software update: drivers are being burnt by new tech.
Recently, Yazmeen Lea (@yazmeenlea) went viral after experiencing a terrifying ordeal while test-driving one of the popular electric cars. Lea shared her experience on TikTok, detailing how she and her husband's 10-month-old daughter got trapped in a Model X.
In the video, which received more than 447,000 views, the couple documented the steps they had to take to rescue their baby.
How did their baby get stuck inside a Tesla?
The video begins with footage of emergency service personnel arriving at the scene to inquire as to what’s going on.
They quickly discover the reason for the emergency: a baby is trapped inside a Tesla. The parents explain that their 10-month-old accidentally got locked in the car.
It's hard to believe how this could have happened: the couple was driving a Tesla Model X for a test drive. Ironically, in the video's caption, Lea mentions they were planning to purchase it.
However, they soon encountered a problem after shutting their doors. It appears that the Model X locked itself before they could open the back door to take their 10-month-old daughter out.
Since the car was being used for a test drive, it wasn't linked to a driver's app: just a key card. And since the key card was left inside, they couldn't open the door.
To add to the difficulty, Lea mentions, no one at Tesla was picking up the phone. Moreover, the manufacturer's roadside assistance team wasn't much of a help either.
Tesla X surprise shutdown
During their video, the couple can be heard explaining the situation to EMS workers. “It’s a demo, yeah, they let you take it home for a day to see if you like it. We don’t like it,” Lea tells one of the EMS workers.
Subsequently, the video shifts to scenes of their infant seated in her car seat at the rear of the Tesla. "Lana girl, don't worry," she's heard reassuringly telling her child.
The video swiftly transitions to EMS personnel gently tapping the driver's side window. They start to work on removing the fragment of glass, which shatters and is then successfully removed from the car.
EMS workers exclaim that they’re happy it was able to come out in one piece as the couple’s baby shrieks in the background. “F*ck you Elon,” the father can be heard saying off camera.
“Thank you, guys,” he adds, giving props to the EMS workers for their swift action.
One of the workers then reaches into the car, grabs the key card, and taps it against the door jamb. They’re able to open the vehicle before the video ultimately cuts out.
Tesla was “apologetic”
In a subsequent video, Lea mentions that they made numerous calls to the Tesla showroom but got no answer. They intended to return the car that evening but had to postpone it until the next day.
The night turned into a storm, but since they had already experienced enough hardship from the event, they chose not to secure the window. Lea thinks the harm done to the car might have been more severe than just the window breaking because of the storm. Even though she had instructed her husband to have Tesla come and retrieve the car, he decided to bring it back himself.
When responding to another user on the app asking about Tesla's reply, Lea mentioned that the dealership was sorry. She also mentioned that they showed remorse for the incident and didn't comment on the state of the Model X.
TikTokers chime in
While comments were disabled on Lea’s original video, viewers had a lot to say on her follow-up video.
One person seemed worried about the condition of the Model X. “Just cause you had a bad experience doesn’t give you the right to destroy a vehicle,” they said.
Someone else wanted to know why the baby was left inside of the car in the first place. “I’m curious why was the baby left inside the vehicle with the doors closed? I always leave a door cracked open when I go around my car to get my baby off his car seat,” they wrote.
Lea also penned a written response in the comments section of the clip to a viewer curious about window liability. Namely, if she was expected to foot the bill for it. She clarified, again, that they weren’t: “No we weren’t. They felt awful about the situation and could care less about the car or the window.”
Others said that Tesla’s lack of care towards their vehicle is indicative of its quality. “Lol they don’t care their loaner cars are all trash so they can just toss the car get another one,” one user wrote.
Another commenter echoed the sentiment: “They didn’t care bc they know these cars ain’t shxt.”
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