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Comment by jusben1369 | Hacker News Reader

- Does anyone else feel like this or am I being too cynical?

U.S investigates fires "This is unfair! We're being poorly treated!! Why are we getting different treatment than our competitors? Is this politically motivated by the big car makers because we're a threat and they have Washington in their pockets?"

Germany investigates fires and comes back with an all clear: "See! Nothing to see here. Thanks very much for investigating us and clearing us"

So is it unfair to be investigating these fires or not?

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Tesla requested the investigation. I didn't read a claim about being poorly treated. (I am not saying that such a claim does not exist.)

"Second, we have requested that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conduct a full investigation as soon as possible into the fire incidents."

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/mission-tesla

I don't understand your complaint. Let's take it on say patents.

Similarly: (1) Your company is sued for patent infringement. You protest that you aren't violating the patent and are being unfairly prosecuted. (2) You are found to not be infringing. You then announce that you've been found to not be infringing.

I don't see what's wrong with that.

One can be both upset with an accusation and glad that the accusation was dismissed.

Both.

It is fair to do a detailed investigation of the fires as the regulator is fairly unfamiliar with high speed electric vehicle crashes and any resulting fires and so from the regulators perspective it is wise to be cautious, because if they get it wrong they could suffer considerable political fallout.

It is also fair for Tesla to feel that it is getting unfairly overscrutinised by the regulator, because it probably is compared to a manufacturer selling a similar number of petrol cars.

You guys are right. Most of the "unjust" complaints have been against the media vs the government: From Twitter: @elonmusk What makes this incredibly unjust is that the Model S to date has the best safety record of any car on the road (no injuries or deaths ever) 14d @elonmusk Why does a Tesla fire w no injury get more media headlines than 100,000 gas car fires that kill 100s of people per year?

Tesla “issues” get more attention than regular car issues for the same reasons Tesla successes get more attention than regular car successes. No one remembers what was last year's safest car.

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