PARIS -- Tesla has told the French government there is no indication that a technical fault may have caused a fatal accident in Paris involving a Tesla Model 3 taxi, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
Paris taxi company G7 has suspended the use of the 37 Model 3 cars in its fleet after an accident on Saturday involving one of its drivers in which one person was killed and 20 injured, three of them seriously.
"We have been in contact, of course, with Tesla's management and they tell us that there is no technical problem to flag on their vehicles," government spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters.
He added that the government was waiting for the outcome of the ongoing judicial investigation.
The vehicle, which had stopped at a red traffic light, suddenly sped forward, hitting and dragging with it a cyclist who later died, a police source said, citing the driver's own version of events, witnesses and video surveillance.
The driver tested negative in an alcohol test, the police source said.
It was not clear whether the car was operating in Tesla's Autopilot mode, which handles some driving tasks.
Video of the scene obtained by Reuters showed the wreckage of a black Tesla and debris strewn across the street. The vehicle's left-hand side was crumpled, the front left wheel collapsed and the windscreen shattered.
The car appeared to have collided with a white van, which suffered front-end damage. Other footage circulating on social media showed members of the public tending to the wounded and shocked bystanders in the aftermath of the accident.
Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari told RMC radio that he had spoken with the chief executive of Tesla Europe, who told him there had been no safety alerts about the Model 3.
He added that the automaker, which collects detailed data from the sensors and cameras on its vehicles, notified him that it had provided the relevant technical data to investigators.
Tesla has not responded to requests for comment.
G7 Deputy Chief Executive Yann Ricordel told Reuters the accident occurred while an off-duty taxi driver was taking his family to a restaurant. The driver tried to brake but the car accelerated instead, Ricordel said.
A judicial source said that an investigation into involuntary homicide by the driver had been opened.
Video of the scene obtained by Reuters showed the wreckage of a black Tesla and debris strewn across the street. The vehicle's left-hand side was crumpled, the front left wheel collapsed and the windscreen shattered.
The car appeared to have collided with a white van, which suffered front-end damage. Other footage circulating on social media showed members of the public tending to the wounded and shocked bystanders in the aftermath of the accident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. auto safety regulator, said in August it had sent teams to review 31 Tesla crashes involving 10 deaths since 2016 where it suspected advanced driver assistance systems use. It ruled out Autopilot in three of the crashes.
The review did not consider software defects in its investigation, and French investigators need to look at software as a potential cause, Philip Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said on his blog posting.
Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a formal review into over 200 complaints about sudden acceleration of Tesla cars, but later said it found no defects in Tesla's systems, saying the accidents were caused by "pedal misapplication."
Tsla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly defended Autopilot and in April tweeted that "Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle."
Tesla advises drivers they must keep their hands on the steering wheel and pay attention while using Autopilot.
