Dad of Tesla driver killed in horror fireball crash claims ‘Had she been in another vehicle she would have been alive’
Casey Speckman was drunk behind the wheel of her Model S Tesla with her boss Kevin McCarthy when she smashed into a tree and the car exploded on November 10
THE dad of a young woman who was killed after her Tesla car crashed and erupted into flames has spoken out.
Casey Speckman was drunk behind the wheel of her Model S Tesla with her boss Kevin McCarthy when she smashed into a tree and the car exploded on November 10.
The 27-year-old was driving her 44-year-old employer, who owned the vehicle, through Indianapolis, USA, when they both perished in the collision.
Now her dad, Jon Speckman has said: "Had she been in another vehicle she would still be alive for me to yell at her for driving and drinking."
He told the IndyStar that if the car hadn't been powered by lithium batteries, like those found in the exploding Galaxy Note 7 she would not have died.
Speckman had a blood alcohol level of 0.21 per cent and McCarthy had a level of 0.17 per cent putting them both over the Indiana state limit of 0.08.
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The 2015 Model S is powered by a 1,200-pound lithium battery array made up of several thousand smaller batteries.
The pack split apart in the crash causing the fire, according to police.
An investigation is still on going into the collision with cops still striving to work out the speed of the car as it hit the tree.
Seconds after the smash the car billowed out smoke before exploding into the air according to an 81-year-old witness.
Alfred Finnell Jr said: "I thought something had hit my truck but it had missed my truck.
"It was sitting out in the street. It was the wheel and axle assembly of the car."
Jon added in his interview that his daughter was not entirely to blame for the crash, claiming she swerved to avoid a driver who was driving the wrong way down a one way street.
He has not yet decided whether or not he will sue Tesla for his soon to be married daughter's death.
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