comment: >
  
  Why is the fact that he was driving a tesla relevant at all?
context: Imagine the wait to be rescued for the woman with her two kids knowing her husband just tried to kill them all.. >
  
  Imagine being the husband and realizing you survived along with everyone else and now your family knows you tried to kill them.
  No sympathy, but damn. Hope he gets what he deserves. >
  
  Yeah I imagine it was awkward >
  
  "soooo, you guys hungry?" >
  
  Who wants In-n-Out? >
  
  “There’s a dope Taco Bell further down the road tho” >
  
  “I know a shortcut!” swerves >
  
  “I can’t believe you fell for that..” >
  
  Are we there yet ? >
  
  “———“
  P.S That’s the sound of the Tesla accelerating to get there quicker. >
  
  That was not the outcome I expected to read. Wtf >
  
  Seriously. And can you imagine having to face your family that you tried to off? Hope this guy gets locked up forever if it's true >
  
  I'm sooooo glad they all survived, especially him so he can face the consequences >
  
  This guy will probably have to be on constant suicide watch. 
  I hate to imagine what the marriage must have been like... This is like the biggest sign ever someone could get that an abusive relationship is not worth it 😬
  Edit: I meant it's not worth waiting for things to get better; leave as soon/when as you can. No one deserves abuse >
  
  Literally no one thinks an abusive relationship is “worth it” people stay because they’re scared >
  
  Living with an abusive family member currently while trying to find better paying work. Sitting in my car in the driveway waiting for them to go to sleep so I can slip inside
  Can confirm, not hear because it's a thrilling lifestyle or anything >
  
  I hope you find something fast. You deserve a safe place to live. Don't give up. <3 >
  
  Thank you. A few new better paying positions opened up with my current employer in my area recently so I've applied for several of those. Any of them would be enough to provide a way out even if it's not glamorous. But hey, a studio apartment I feel safe in is better than a rented bedroom I don't.
  I'm also going to have a serious talk with a family friend when I visit them at the end of this month. They'd talked a few times a couple years ago about possibly being able to find me something at the hospital they work at in a support role. Again, not glamorous but I'm by no means too proud to take a job like that if it's a way out. >
  
  Might be worthwhile to sleep in a friend's couch for a bit. I can't imagine what you are going through. Be safe and I hope you are ok. >
  
  unfourtenatly the nearest friend is 9 hours away by car. Trust me, if another easy option was available even if it required groveling I'd have taken it >
  
  My dad almost did this when I was maybe 4 or 5 years old.  parents were arguing during sommer holiday road trip and something snapped and he drove off the road towards a cliff.  The car got stuck and had be towed out.   Also he trampled his glasses out of anger after that and couldn’t see much after that. >
  
  Damn. Glad you survived.
  Also : "don't go on road trips with parents", noted. >
  
  Don't do it with kids either! When I was 16, my parents and I travelled around Spain with a rented car. I'm an awful navigator and tried to insist that we drove off a small cliff in an audi a3 because "Google maps says it's this way, so it must be this way!" >
  
  "It can't mean that! There's a cliff there!" >
  
  I know someone who went over a cliff on a motorbike and survived, he said that he blacked out as soon as he went over the edge, as if to say "ok nope." Ironically it was being relaxed that probably saved his life. >
  
  One of my friends got in a pretty bad accidental motorcycle crash and had to be hospitalized, nearly killed him. He has no memory of the actual event but the report said he took very specific evasive maneuvers right up to the actual collision. Basically, he was all there, actively trying to solve the problem. But after the event, his mind just decided to block out the 2 min prior as if to say “this is too traumatic and it will only protect you to not remember it” >
  
  I'm not scientist so I don't have the terms for that but I think its a well established brain trick. Bad memories and/or traumatic events tend to be forgotten way faster than the good ones. 
  Thank for being so smart brain 🧠 >
  
  Yes and no. The brain is trying to protect you/itself by locking away the traumatic memory, but that just means it doesn't get processed and filed away properly, but instead remains in a kind of limbo state and can cause all sorts of PTSD-type fuckery down the line. The only way to really put it to bed is to force the brain to process it through therapeutic techniques like EMDR. Fascinating stuff. >
  
  at least it's trying to help, i guess lol >
  
  This will be pretty open and shut with the black box and the 8+ cameras on a Tesla that will capture every angle >
  
  See mentioning Tesla to reference the cameras it has makes sense. Mentioning “Tesla driver” is just lazy af/click bait  writing. >
  
  I wonderhow they found out. I imagine his wife screaming to her saviors, "He tried to kill us!" >
  
  That, plus no skid marks on the road from trying to brake or turn away >
  
  The guy was also driving a blackbox on wheels. The car recorded cameras (8 external, I do not believe the internal one outputs to crash logs, could be wrong) and every input before the crash, it is going to be completely obvious to investigators what was happening when they look at those logs. >
  
  For real. Dash cam footage on this will be evidence at the trial. Wonder if he had the internal cam uncovered…could be great for safety folks to see performance of air bags in real world situation. >
  
  Imagine how traumatizing it would be to have to watch real footage of air bags inside these kinds of accidents. >
  
  You’d need trauma counselors like those people that moderate flagged YouTube videos. >
  
  As someone who grew up with a dad with anger issues/suicidal threats, aggressive driving with all of us in the car, this is really scary to think about. Really feeling for the kids and the mom going through this ordeal. >
  
  Spent his whole life in school to become a doctor, started a family, then decided to kill everyone (but they lived).
  What a coward and a waste of life. >
  
  Theres a phenomenon where doctors can be really emotionally immature/stunted.
  Once they hit the real world after 2 decades of school things can get weird. >
  
  I worked at a hotel for 6 years, and during the summer months our main revenue was conferences. Lots of doctors, lawyers, highly educated people coming for their company shindig. I learnt early on that most of these highly educated people had zero life skills, no common sense, no problem-solving ability and as you said were emotionally stunted. It almost felt like they had devolved through over specialization and the only thing keeping them from running into traffic was a someone else shouting 'look out you idiot!' >
  
  a friend of mine growing up had 2 practicing MD's for parents.  The parent that I considered extremely intelligent, witty, sarcastic, understood subtleties, excellent problem solver, was apparently bad at medicine and was eventually confined to  just doing administrative work.  The other parent, was dumb on all counts, could not drive a car to save their life, and would panic freeze at the slightest stresses or inconveniences, but apparently was excellent at medicine and their patients loved them.  go figure.... >
  
  Interesting, albeit anecdotal. But surely you can both be a good doctor and a functional competent adult and not being in the extreme. >
  
  Have you heard about hours during residency? There’s no making it out of that at full functionality. Especially after going through med school. >
  
  Family annhilators are gut-wrenching and depressing.
  Why do they have to be like this? Why does life, beautiful life, even innocent life, end simply by some dude having anger / vengeance problems?
  FUCK. >
  
  One of the prosecutors at Nuremberg came to the conclusion, after many interviews with Nazi war criminals, and seeing how ‘normal’ they all seemed despite their hideous crimes, that the source of evil is simply a lack of empathy. To see your fellow humans as nothing more than props to give their existence meaning, and who have no agency or inner life of their own. If people can be trained to do that, or by some psychological or biological quirk are incapable of it, then they can be just as vicious as any demon from Hell. >
  
  This is why artificial intelligence is scary to some. It doesn't have to be actively evil, it just has to not value you, and have the power to end your life if it means completing a task at a slightly more efficient rate >
  
  Interesting insight. >
  
  What a POS. His poor kids and wife. >
  
  I've seen three articles on this story and all of them put the fact that it was a Tesla front and center despite it seemingly not being relevant at all >
  
  Low key kind of a good ad for tesla, it saved everyone after a long, long plunge off a cliff.  But yeah, I see your point.  If it was any other car probably would not be in the title. >
  
  Yup. It's just an attempt to get attention. Pretty sick, considering the context. >
  
  An attempt to get attention on who's part? >
  
  The news media. Most articles these days are talking about Tesla auto pilot failing and crashing (while the driver isn’t paying attention when they should be). So putting Tesla in the title will get them more clicks. 
  I’m not a fan of Tesla, but this is definitely a win for them. >
  
  So my whole life it's always seemed to me that there is an ongoing low key thing to put any EV in the most negative light you can. >
  
  It started off as slander because of the oil industry paying them off. Now it’s just trendy to talk about EVs, regardless of if it’s good/bad. >
  
  Ya starting maybe 5 years ago there was a pro push from certain sectors, but I still see a dedicated stream of misinformation both in articles and comments. >
  
  That's just the political climate these days. After Trump was elected, it sent a message that you can say whatever the hell you want if you're angry (or act confident) enough about it and nobody can tell you you're wrong. >
  
  What kind of car seats did these kids have holy cow! >
  
  Wait. Did I read that this was the second attempt? >
  
  If you mean at the end, I think they mention another family quickly whom I'm assuming all died but it doesn't say >
  
  Fucking hell >
  
  Did I read this correctly, the father is being charged with "child endangerment" and not 'attempted murder' even though he intentionally drove over the cliff?!?!
  Edit: ok, the charges are 'attempted murder AND child abuse'. >
  
  if he manages to beat the attempted murder charge, at least they can make sure he never gets joint custody of his kids >
  
  Your honor, the whole driving the family off a 300 foot cliff thing wasn’t a true reflection of the person I am deep down. I love my kids now and definitely won’t try to kill them again. >
  
  Honestly, when I heard about this, it made me think of the Hart murders. Sad that I was correct in my thinking. >
  
  Whoa. That was unexpected. >
  
  Omg. Those poor babies. >
  
  $20 says the headline would not feature the word "Nissan" if the car was an Altima. >
  
  Correct, because the Altima is not self driving, so the person making the article wouldn't make the assumption that the self driving is what drove it off the cliff, because the reality of it being murder is a lot less obvious. >
  
  Early articles literally said the car was in self driving mode despite there being no evidence for that. >
  
  Can you point to an article that did that? All of the ones that I read yesterday said that the police did not believe that was case. I saw tons of speculation from the usual reddit moron brigade though. >
  
  It was the very first version of an article that happened immediately after the crash. They later updated the story and removed the false info, so the statement is gone now. Don't remember the specific site but I saw the same article before and after the change... >
  
  Fuck this guy. Rot in hell. >
  
  And you thought holiday dinners were tough in your family. >
  
  I wonder what happened leading up to the 'accident'. >
  
  Why does the make of the car matter at all in this article? Since when does NPR stoop to such low levels to get clicks? >
  
  Why is the make of the car mentioned, it is completely irrelevant. >
  
  Well they did survive a 250 foot drop while seated in the Tesla… 
  I wouldn’t be surprised if Musk tries to uses it as a selling point. >
  
  So instead of the Tesla bashing that was originally reported, it should have been great job Tesla for saving the entire family regardless of how hard the driver tried to kill his family >
  
  Teslas have some great features. Safety being one of them. The company owner and the overall fit and finish aren’t. 
  In this case, the fact they were in a Tesla is likely the sole reason no one died. I have no problem saying that, even though I really don’t like the company, the vehicle, or especially the owner. >
  
  Damn... Thought it was an accident all the way around.  If true, lock up the psycho and throw away the key. >
  
  Jesus, this is as "failure" as a father/husband can get. >
  
  Abusive, vacant, probably lots of ways of being horrible... >
  
  And none of them compare to how bad attempting to murder your family is. >
  
  He probably tried leaving the car on in the garage overnight first only to wake up disappointed and this was his backup plan >
  
  I hope this guy actually tried to commit murder... think about what this would do to someone who was innocent >
  
  This comment section reminds of a movie with I think Viggo Mortensen (def a non-American action movie actor and the movie is from his native country) where he’s a kindergarten teacher and a girl falsely accuses him of fiddling her because she’s bored or pissed off at him or something.
  So yeah, I kinda also hope for this guy that he’s guilty because his life is over either way. >
  
  Imagine him talking his wife in to letting him buy a Tesla and that's what saved them all. 
  Should have bought the pinto. 
  In all seriousness, glad the wife and kids are ok. >
  
  Why do they have to mention the car brand? >
  
  This cliff spot is in my hometown and is notorious for people intentionally and unintentionally driving off it. The fact the car landed upright is a miracle, with two small children in the car I hope he rots in hell >
  
  What is it with Tesla being in the headline? Lol. So bizarre. >
  
  When news first broke, no one knew what happened and people were pointing at a Tesla autopilot malfunction or something. Since then even with the new information the story has carried on as "tesla off cliff". >
  
  It also was a miracle they survived and was testimony to the safety of Teslas. As much as I hate the brand, the parts of the car that Elon wasn't involved in work well. >
  
  A Hyundai Elantra recently kept a family alive going over a cliff too. One of these cars is much cheaper for the same cliff defense rating. >
  
  And yet the Hyundai Elantra didn’t manage to get Top Safety Pick + when tested by the IIHS. You can’t just look at two random, unrelated crashes and compare them as if they’re identical >
  
  
  And yet the Hyundai Elantra didn’t manage to get Top Safety Pick + when tested by the IIHS.
  
  That doesn't seem relevant, the only think keeping the Elantra from also having top safety pick+ is one headlight trim received a poor grade. >
  
  this is reddit, it's completely full of naïve people who think they'll become a  conspiracy theorist if they exercise any measure of independent thought.  Like a Christian who won't drink a beer in fear of immediately becoming a broken, hopeless drunk. >
  
  Regardless of the circumstances I cannot imagine doing that to young children with their lives ahead of them. 
  His wife is gorgeous and the children are adorable. If you want to check out - do it on your own accord and leave the family out of it.  He’s going to be gone in jail for a long time. Hope the children are ok and mom can move on by herself or with someone more stable. >
  
  It sounds like he’s wealthy. We don’t have a good track record in this country when it comes to wealthy people paying for their crimes. I hope he isn’t able to avoid incarceration by claiming insanity. >
  
  What has the car he’s driving got to do with it? >
  
  The original reports mentioned it as a Tesla due to automated driving malfunctions being news trendy.  Now that we know more, Tesla is included both to link it to the previous reporting and also because not mentioning it now that it is cast in a better light could be libelous. >
  
  well it has good crash rating >
  
  I really want to know what kind of car seat the 4 year old was in. Sounds like it saved him. >
  
  Yes defenitly not the car >
  
  Who knows, maybe he figured if the crash didn't kill everyone, the probable battery fire would.
  You have to pause and wonder what was the motivation for this.
  I hope the Wife and Children are able to make a full recovery.
  I hope he gets to live a long life of regret. >
  
  We’ll he’s definitely not getting that Dad of the Year award now. >
  
  I posted this story a few days ago in the Tesla lounge and got banned from posting for a week. I still don’t know why. 
  The fact that all 4 people survived is a miracle. At first it was not known that this was done intentionally. The fact that the car flipped over a few times and landed on its wheels 250 below and the fact that all 4 were alive sounds like a miracle. Maybe the car had something to do with it but a lot of facts were unknown before so the focus was the car brand >
  
  Is your husband driving you up the wall? Does he threaten the whole family with a long drive off a short road? Then you should buy a Tesla™. Guaranteed to ensure the survival of even the most dysfunctional of families. Make sure to wear your seatbelt and cruise in for a not so expected bruisin. 
  Tesla™ >
  
  Should've used a Honda Civic if he wanted them all to die. >
  
  Or he could've picked up an old Ford Pinto and killed everyone without bothering with the cliff >
  
  The thought alone would've ignited a pinto immediately. >
  
  Didn't you have to have the left blinker on and be hit in the back, and only like 20 of them caught on fire this way? >
  
  Tesla saves families lives after deranged father tries to kill them by driving off a cliff. >
  
  Lmao I was reading how the firefighters and EMTs thought it was a miracle they survived because almost all cars that plummet at that location leave no survivors.
  So honestly, kind of ironic that the guy who wanted to intentionally murder people couldn’t manage to do it. >
  
  Why "Tesla driver"? If it had been a Toyota or a Chevy, would the brand of car have been in the headline? So weird. >
  
  This was big news the other day and articles implied that the fact it was a Tesla was a factor in the crash. I think the headline is specifying they're talking about that specific crash, and also emphasize that it was the driver, not the car. I wasn't expecting the #notallteslas crowd >
  
  Yep I think this is all it is. There was concern it drove itself off the cliff lol, and now we know it didn't. >
  
  "If you kids don't knock it the hell off back there then I'm gonna drive this car off the next cliff I see!'
  The kids did not think that dad was serious. >
  
  Good he should get life in prison without the possibility of parol >
  
  250ft drop in a 4500lbs car and all three victims survived along with the assailant.  Time to buy a Tesla, thanks for pointing that out NPR! >
  
  That’s a dark last paragraph, Jesus. >
  
  People suck. I just don’t get it. Why the kids? >
  
  Because the individual views them as part of their failure and consequently as extensions of themselves >
  
  I cannot (nor want to) imagine the sheer terror his wife and kids felt, and the trauma they will endure since surviving. 
  How do you heal from something like this? >
  
  First step is cut out the cancer. She needs to divorce him ASAP and get some good therapy for all involved. >
  
  Everyone survived? Unintentionally the best news Tesla has had in months. >
  
  Kind of feel like they are using Tesla to portray the brand negatively in connection with this incident, but damn the car dropped 300 feet, everyone survived and the car looks pretty solid. >
  
  Idk how many more times it needs to be said, but America's biggest issue is the mental health crisis going on. >
  
  ...but America's mental health crisis is being driven by America's other biggest issues >
  
  What came first, the chicken or the egg?
  All I know is that there's been loads of firearms in the US for decades. To the point where schools used to encourage kids bringing their guns to school to join the shooting teams. And even after Columbine, school shootings were essentially unheard of until the last decade. Something has changed in the psyche. >
  
  I wasn't thinking about guns at all. I was mainly thinking about income inequality and the corruption of the people we elected to make our government and economy fair. >
  
  What drives someone to that level of insanity? 
  ​
  sorry for the pun. >
  
  Not much information in this article, what are law enforcement basing this claim on? >
  
  Surviving mother and family basically told them what happened after they were rescued. From the victims mouth. Husband regained conscience late. >
  
  So how's the battery?  Asking for a friend. >
  
  oof, what is the expression for being sad and happy at the same time? incredibly they survived, something so insanely tragic. >
  
  Tesla driver drives tesla off cliff intentionally trying to kill his family who were also in the tesla when the tesla fell down the cliff but luckily the tesla occupants all survived the fall because of being in a tesla. Tesla. >
  
  Nevermind. Morning brain is rough sometimes >
  
  So.....where's the Lynch Tesla mobs now? >
  
  Wow. What a twist on this story >
  
  And still people are pushing the narrative that the car plunged them off a cliff in an attempt to pwn Elon... >
  
  Idk that think probably is going to be charging anymore. >
  
  Those kids mental development is probably going to be hindered by this event in some regard. Fear of heights, fear of being in a car with someone, potentially. I can't imagine being that young and dad takes you free falling on a cliff. No where to go, the concept of death being very minimal for the youngest kid. The other one is old enough to grasp the concept but also old enough to think about dad's betrayal, the fear for their sibling's life and their mom's life including their own. Therapy with maybe a potential for post traumatic stress disorder.
  This sort of thing can really damage kids in development. I hope the dad really has time to reflect in prison. I hope these kids have time to grow and potentially heal and I hope the mother is able to do the same. This whole ordeal is just sad. The dad is clearly not the victim in this situation but you have to wonder what is going through the mind of someone who thinks it is better to take your whole family with you than to do it alone.
  Attempted murder is obviously there but what was the dad dealing with? Was this attempted suicide. If anyone reading this ever feels like this is the answer to anything at all please see someone for help. You are not alone and this not only is something the dad will regret until he dies but something that can completely ruin lives. No matter how bad things seem taking your life and others in the process isn't the answer. You have people who care even the strangers of the internet. >
  
  Good PR for Tesla.  Car saved family from crazy asshole father. >
  
  How many families have been killed this way? This case is going to bring up a lot of questions for the loved ones of those that have died in similar accidents >
  
  anyone find it odd how nearly every comment in controversial is furious over the word "tesla" >
  
  Tesla should be proud, their car is so safe it went off a cliff and everyone lived. >
  
  Well this is a plot twist... >
  
  Do teslas have like a black box or something? >
  
  Would three witnesses do? >
  
  Most importantly, yes >
  
  I think fact that everyone survived should be considered for some sort of safety rating. Companies could add a star if their car survives the cliff test >
  
  What about that family at the end they talk about in 2018? Family drove off cliff in San Fran because they were escaping Child services because they were intentionally starving their kids? Why are there so many parents and adoptive parents like this. >
  
  I love how the article focuses on the fact that it what a Tesla driver, when it being a Tesla is not relevant to the facts at all. LEOs quoted in the article even say that it was not a factor. >
  
  can we stop putting tesla driver in the headline to this article. the article itself says that the car being a tesla is irrelevant to the incident >
  
  They just weren’t meant to die. Whatever his reason, he failed. >
  
  Why is the first word in the headline "Tesla"? It's the least important part of the story. Methinks headline writers simply hate Tesla and want to do everything they can to have a headline about a Tesla crash >
  
  Pretty much. They’re a bit clumsy with the smear at this point since it’s been shown to be intentional.