A Virginia woman is suing Tesla after she crashed a Model Y into a hair salon during a test drive, saying she was never warned that the car had been set to its fastest acceleration mode. Alemzewd Lawgalet, 59, filed the lawsuit after losing control of the vehicle near the Pentagon in September 2024.
Lawgalet, a database developer at the Federal Reserve Board, says in her complaint that she had never driven an electric car before. She claims a salesman at a Tesla showroom in Arlington, Virginia, did not tell her that the car had three acceleration settings, and sent her out alone with the vehicle in “Insane” mode.
According to the Independent, the lawsuit, filed in Alexandria federal court, seeks at least $10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. It accuses Tesla of “recklessness,” “willful and wanton conduct,” and “conscious disregard for the health and safety of others.”
The crash forced an evacuation and left the salon owner shaken
According to Tesla, “Insane” mode gives drivers the maximum acceleration available in the car, letting the Model Y go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds. The lawsuit says this is close to the speed of a Ferrari 296 GTB Speciale. The car’s other two settings are “Chill,” described by Tesla as giving a smooth and gentle ride, and “Standard,” which offers a normal level of acceleration.
The complaint states that Lawgalet was not accompanied by the salesman during her test drive. As she pulled away from a red light near the Pentagon, the Model Y “lurched forward at an extreme speed and horsepower compared to the force placed on the accelerator,” causing her to lose control and crash into the Posh Salon storefront.
The vehicle caught fire after the crash, and the building had to be evacuated. The salon’s owner told local station WUSA9, “I thought I died. I literally thought, like, there was a bomb and the building exploded and that was the last of it.”
Lawgalet was rushed to the hospital after the crash, which made headlines at the time, though the cause was not made public and she was not identified as the driver until the lawsuit was filed on July 22. Disputes over what customers are told at the point of sale have come up in other Tesla cases too, including one involving a dispute over a car’s ownership after it was taken in for repairs.
The complaint says Lawgalet suffered “serious and permanent” injuries that “have caused and will continue to cause physical and mental pain and suffering,” along with medical and therapy costs, lost wages, and a reduced ability to enjoy normal daily life.
According to the lawsuit, Lawgalet told the salesman at the showroom that it was her first time driving an electric car and asked what she needed to know. She says she was told the car operated the same as a gas-powered vehicle and was not warned that electric cars accelerate more quickly and easily.
The complaint also says Lawgalet was not told about the car’s regenerative braking system, which slows the vehicle down when the driver takes their foot off the accelerator, even without touching the brake pedal.
While merging onto I-395 at 55 mph, she said she got scared when the car suddenly slowed after she released the accelerator, believing the brakes had engaged on their own. She then decided to exit the highway and head back to the dealership, taking the Pentagon exit before the crash occurred at a red light.
The lawsuit notes that a driver cannot accidentally switch a Tesla into Insane mode, since doing so requires going through a specific series of touchscreen menus. Questions about how much control Tesla drivers have, or should have, over the vehicle have also come up around the company’s driver-assist software, including one case where an Uber passenger described his driver falling asleep while the car handled a highway trip on its own.
Tesla, in a response filed while the case was still in state court, argued that Lawgalet had “failed to take reasonable care” and “fail[ed] to take reasonable steps to mitigate her alleged damages.” A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Published: Aug 2, 2026 12:00 pm