Mitch McConnell’s billionaire sister-in-law Angela Chao made panicked last call before dying in ‘completely submerged’ Tesla on Texas ranch: report

nypost ^ | 3/9/2024 | Patrick Reilly

[bitt]

Angela Chao, Sen. Mitch McConnell’s billionaire sister-in-law, spent her last minutes alive frantically calling her friends for help as her Tesla slowly sank in a pond on a remote Texas ranch, according to a report.

Chao, the billionaire former CEO of dry bulk shipping giant Foremost Group, tragically died at the age of 50 on Feb. 10 after accidentally backing her car into the pond while making a three-point turn.

The driving mishap was detailed in a report by The Wall Street Journal that shed light on the chaotic rescue efforts that ultimately came up short, turning what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend with friends into a nightmare.

Chao invited several of her girlfriends from Harvard Business School to spend the weekend on a gorgeous, sprawling 900-acre private property in Texas’ Hill Country, that included horse stables, a swimming pool and a 10-bedroom guesthouse, the Journal reported.

After eating dinner together and celebrating the Chinese New Year on Friday night, Chao left the guesthouse around 11:30 p.m. to head back to the main house, where her son was sleeping. It was cold out, so she decided to take her Tesla Model X SUV for the four-minute drive rather than walk.

[bitt]

p

[Shady]

Did someone else “drive” the Tesla into reverse at high speed?

[Qwapisking]

not shocked. but I wasn’t in an ev.

[wjcsux]

Maybe she had dirt on the Clinton’s.

[lee martell]

Sometimes bizarre and deadly accidents do happen.
This could have been you or me, depending on luck and distracted driving skills.

[PGalt]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

[brownsfan]

Asian women drivers...

[XRdsRev]

Believable that this could happen. The acceleration on a Tesla is pretty incredible. From zero to sixty it easily beats Corvettes etc. if she pressed the accelerator too much, the car’s electrical motors sent her backwards at high speed. Once in the water, the electrical system failed and doors and windows would not open.

[Candor7]

Chao Ping

[Chgogal]

How fast was she driving to pop over an embankment?

[null and void]

Electric windows + pond water = always carry something to break the glass...

[wardaddy]

Most women simply don’t drive like men especially parking or 3-4 point turnarounds

It’s just one of those differences common sense once recognized

It’s a shame she didn’t deserve it

[null and void]

Ask Michael Hastings.

Drive by wire
Computer controlled
State actor hackers

[silent majority rising]

Shorted out by the electric battery?

[ConservativeMind]

I and three coworkers were in a Tesla owned by one of them. The weight of the people was easily 800-900 pounds.

Acceleration from a stop, or even acceleration from a slow speed to highway speed, was amazing.

It was like the car had no passengers.

[silent majority rising]

Or maybe she was electrocuted by the Lithium battery? Like putting a live wire in a glass of water?

[crusty old prospector]

It sounds like too much to drink for Chinese New Year.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

I don't remember what the gear selector in a Tesla is like, but that's a common annoyance in modern cars - the old, console mounted mechanical gear selectors in automatic transmission cars are gone, replaced by tiny electronic switches. It takes a few seconds longer to confirm you're in D instead of P or R, and in the dark on a cold night I can see how a distracted, older person might get it wrong.

My next car will have a manual transmission. They're a dwindling breed, but they're still in a few new cars and I miss them.

[ConservativeMind]

Actually, an Asian friend of my wife, who was born in Taiwan, says Asian women are the worst drivers and don’t care what they do to others.

I guess it is the culture, which basically sucks.