On March 10th, it was reported that Angela Chao, the Chairwoman and CEO of the shipping giant Foremost Group, tragically passed away at the age of 50 due to a car accident.
Recent revelations shed light on the circumstances of Angela Chao's fatal accident: she accidentally shifted her Tesla into reverse gear, causing it to plunge into a pond.
According to various sources, Angela Chao was attending a gathering with friends at a vacation ranch when the incident occurred. Around 11:30 PM, she decided to head back to the main house, opting to drive her Tesla Model X due to the cold weather instead of walking.
However, just minutes after bidding farewell to her friends, they received a distress call from Angela Chao.
Reports indicate that while attempting a three-point turn on a narrow road, she mistakenly shifted into reverse gear instead of drive.
This wasn't the first time she had made such an error while using the Tesla gear lever. The vehicle rapidly reversed, flipped over a embankment, and plunged into a pond, quickly sinking.
Shortly after receiving the call, her friends and the ranch manager rushed to the scene. Due to the remote location and complex terrain of the ranch, some emergency responders had to leave their vehicles and proceed on foot.
Over the next few hours, Angela Chao's friends, the ranch manager and his wife, firefighters, and police attempted to extricate her from the vehicle, but unfortunately, by the time they succeeded, it was too late. Angela Chao was pronounced dead at the scene and was not transported to the hospital.
Angela Chao was born in the United States but had ancestral roots in Jiading, Shanghai. She was the youngest daughter of Zhao Xicheng, the founder of the Foremost Group, and the sister of former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.
In another family statement, Zhao Xicheng announced his daughter's passing with "a heavy heart and deep sorrow," stating, "We are deeply saddened, losing her at such a young age is something we never imagined."
Details on how Angela Chao's Tesla ended up in the pond were not initially released by the authorities, leading many to question whether the Tesla system had been hacked, including Kyle Bass, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Hayman Capital Management.
"Branco County Sheriff's office has the technical capability to investigate the Tesla logs to determine if the car was tampered with or even hacked," Bass wrote on X. "This case continues to get more and more suspicious."
In a letter dated February 29th obtained by Business Insider addressed to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a public information officer for Branco County wrote that while initial investigations suggested the incident was a "tragic accident," the Sheriff's office is still looking into the matter. Unless they have enough evidence to rule out criminal activity, the accident will be treated as a criminal case.
When a vehicle enters water, the first minute is absolutely crucial. Survival experts previously told Business Insider that drivers have only about a minute to escape from a sinking vehicle.
"Act quickly, but don't panic. You may have only a minute to get out, but you must stay focused."
Gordon Giesbrecht, a professor at the University of Manitoba, stated that it may take several minutes for a car to sink, but it's crucial to open the windows as soon as possible. He explained that as the water level rises outside the car, pressure builds, making it difficult to open the windows.
Once the windows cannot be opened, breaking them underwater without tools is nearly impossible for the average person.
So, if encountering a waterlogged road, it's a good habit to open the windows for escape.
