HOUSTON – A road rage incident was caught on camera after a man said another driver’s actions caused him to crash his Tesla. Now, the Tesla driver wants the person to pay for the damages.
Fabio Brasil Da Costa is thankful he wasn’t hurt in the hit and run.
He said he’s seen the senseless road rage incidents happening around the Houston area before but never thought it would happen to him.
It started off as a normal commute for Brasil Da Costa Tuesday morning.
“It was about 11:30. I was driving to work,” he said.
He was traveling in the left lane on US 90, driving the Tesla he just got a month ago.
“All of a sudden, I noticed a car coming behind me. It was really weird because I didn’t see anybody driving it at first, and then I squinted and saw somebody was driving with the seat all the way reclined back,” Brasil Da Costa said.
Brasil Da Costa said the driver of a Hyundai Elantra started tailgating him. The camera system on his Tesla captured what happened next.
“They came on my right (side) and cut me off, then went right in front on me, and then after a couple of seconds, they start slamming on the breaks,” he said.
The car automatically activated the emergency stop function and Brasil Da Costa stepped on the brakes.
“For a second there it seemed like they were going to continue going, but then they slammed on the break again and we collided,” Brasil Da Costa said.
The driver of the Hyundai Elantra sped off.
“I really don’t understand. I wasn’t driving erratically or too slow in the left lane,” Brasil Da Costa said.
Now, he said although he has damage to the front end of his Tesla, things could have been much worse.
Brasil Da Costa said it will cost about $1,600 to repair his car.
“I would love for some accountability because you can’t just drive around like this creating trouble. If it was a little bit more serious, I could have hit someone else,” Brasil Da Costa said.
Houston police are investigating the road rage.