Motorist's electric vehicle that killed boy, 5, had no faults', court hears

"I found no faults with the operations of the vehicle, including the steering, acceleration and braking. I was unable to make the vehicle move without any intentional driving moves. You have to make an action to make it move. The vehicle's braking system would override the cruise control function. He added that a test of the accelerator and braking pedal found that the braking system overrode the accelerating system if both pressed at the same time."

"An electric vehicle which killed a child had no faults', a court has heard, after the driver claimed it had accelerated unexpectedly while parked. Ashenafei Demissie was sitting in his parked Volkswagen ID.4 outside his flat near London Bridge in south London, when the car moved forward at speed and killed five-year-old Fareer Amir. The collision also seriously injured Mr Demissie's own son Raphael, 12, as well as damaging five other parked vehicles during the incident in November 2022."

A parked Volkswagen ID.4 moved forward at speed near London Bridge, killing five-year-old Fareer Amir, seriously injuring the driver’s 12-year-old son, and damaging five other parked vehicles in November 2022. The driver, Ashenafei Demissie, denies careless driving and claims the all-electric car accelerated on its own while parked. Traffic collision expert Mark Still examined and tested the 2021-plated vehicle and found no faults in steering, braking, suspension, or electrics. Tests showed the braking system overrides cruise control and that braking overrides acceleration if both pedals are pressed; the car could not be made to move without intentional driver actions. Scene evidence supported that the vehicle was driven forward and that acceleration was the most likely cause.

Read at www.independent.co.uk