“You thought you’d get away with this. I am in your car. I am in your maps,” he shouted at her, according to the police records.
Over the coming days, Stacey found that the parental control profile, to which she had no access, could almost entirely control the car, including its speed, climate control, lock and curfew hours, determining when the car could be driven.
Between 6 and 12 November 2025, Pucci remotely alternated the car’s temperature setting between extremely cold and extremely hot.
“The victim has not been able to drive certain speeds and on most recent occasions throughout this period, [the accused] has turned on ‘Valet Mode’ which immediately reduces the speed to 40km per hour causing significant safety issues for the victim on the road”, the police documents stated.
“The victim has not had any control of her vehicle since she noticed the parental control profile added on the 1st November 2025.
the parental control […] could almost entirely control the car, including its speed
They assume kids in the driver seat who need to be controlled? How weird is that??
It’s wild to me the extent of control that hides under remote capabilities for Tesla. I could never drive one of these knowing it.
Basically all modern vehicles unfortunately.
Yeah. :(
I live in a city with a central (free) street car line and have a Segway, so I almost never drive, though I own a 2013 Kia. Stories like this are far more interesting to me than most, I’d imagine, given my general lack of familiarity with how advanced auto tech has become.
I feel you, I’m working on getting a 1984 Honda ct110 to stop being stupid and drive an 01 Tacoma, basically every car I’ve driven has been older than 2010 with a heavy bias towards early 00s and 90s and everything past that point deals psychic damage just looking at it. I don’t need cruise control and I sure as shit don’t need a fucken iPad mounted in the dash.
I have never, and I will do my absolute best to never even ride in a Tesla.
They are simply unsafe
Super unnecessary and dystopian. If you‘re a minor with a driving license your parent should either be by your side or you know what you‘re doing since you have a drivers license. If those systems fail you need a better system rather than parental control software in a vehicle.
If you‘re a minor with a driving license your parent should either be by your side or you know what you‘re doing since you have a drivers license.
Are you seriously suggesting that teenagers are just going to do what they’re told? The one thing teenagers are famous for NOT doing. Just because their parents might know they’re out driving, that doesn’t actually prevent teenagers from doing stupid shit.
You also do realize that you don’t have to be 18 to get a driver’s license right? The almost universal standard around the world is between 15 and 16 years old, including in the US where Tesla is based, and Australia where this article is from.
The company introduced Speed Limit Mode following the death of 18-year-olds Barrett Riley and Edgar Monserratt Martinez in 2018. The pair crashed doing 116 mph (186 kph) in a 30 mph (40 kph) zone.
If you’re a licensed driver, you know how to drive. If people are being given licenses without properly making sure the licensee is both qualified and mentally capable to drive and know what responsibilities that entails, then we shouldn’t be letting them drive and that’s a failing on society.
At least where I’m from, unlicensed minors aren’t allowed to drive without a licensed adult present.
And if you don’t trust your unlicensed teenager to not steal your keys and go on a joyride, the I can’t help you because you need a professional family therapist to work through issues.
Licensed driver ≠ able to drive. Lots of jurisdictions will give 18 years or older a license and the only requirement is passing the lenient written test.
Edit: My anecdotal experience on the road has shown me lots of people have licenses that clearly should not.
Edit edit. The people that think that just because you have a license that you actually know how to drive are scary. I’ve personally known multiple people who attained licenses when they never ever should’ve been given them. They were dangers to themselves and others and luckily no one was killed. Getting your license and actually knowing how to be a driver, a safe, skilled, able driver, are separate things.
That was literally the point that they were making.
The almost universal standard around the world is between 15 and 16 years old
You might want to check that, because if you look at the list of minimum driving ages on Wikipedia you will see that most countries have a minimum of 18 for cars.
Even in the US many states allow kids to start driving as early as 15 under learning permits. It’s funny we don’t want social media companies putting controls in due to freedom of speech, but then tell parents they are responsible to control their kids. Seems like there is a middle ground, and when a person abuses that control, they go to jail.
Learning permits require a licensed adult in the passenger seat at all times.
May want to look into those states… In my 16 year olds can easily drive without an adult. They are limited (can’t drive at night) but are allowed to drive. This the case in a ton of states.
16 with a Driver’s License, sure. 15 with a Learner’s Permit, no.
And here I was mad that I could only find Android Auto head units when the radio in my 15 year old car died.
This sounds like a nightmare.
BTW pioneer does good generic non smart radios
We need a “right to be treated as an adult” affirmed by Congress that prohibits use of parental controls against users who can demonstrate adulthood by presentation of ID
Oh hooray another mandatory ID checkpoint! Don’t resist, it’s only for your safety and convenience, no other reasons!
/s
No /s needed mate. A car checking ID is laughable.
Why wouldn’t your management account for a car need to know whether you’re a licensed driver?
Because it’s neither the cops nor fucking human??
Why would it be legal for you to drive a car without a license
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Why should an App be even allowed to judge over legality?!
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In cases of emergency (life threatening injuries, or to escape life threatening situations) you are allowed to drive whatever if you have to.
An app should be allowed to manage the legal exposure of permitting you to use it to do something illegal, if we’re going to permit apps to be sued because they didn’t stop someone from doing something illegal.
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I’m not saying you should be required to show it; just that if you can, and do, they should be barred from applying juvenile controls to the account held by you, an adult.
Who is “they” in this scenario? Because the person who applied the controls in this story was the account holder.
Yes; he applied parental controls from his account to her account by misrepresenting to Tesla that she was a juvenile driving his car
This is why I like my old Jeep. It’s manual. It’s got great “security”. I always say it’s got an alarm system; because any small time thief would yell out of frustration. When I travel, I pull out the clutch pedal and take fuel relay out and unplug the battery and leave it in 4lo lol. Oh yeah and you have to unplug the clutch pedal fuse for it to start. If the battery has been unplugged, then you got remap the ECU which takes like a half hour of my shovel wedged against the gas pedal unless you want the engine stalling out every time you take your foot of the pedal. It’s also one of the rare colors, as in only 2000 made with dicks, I’m very childish, carved in hard to see spots to make it a nightmare for part thieves. So if you steal it, pretty much with a tow truck, it’s like putting a bullseye on yourself.
The point was, there’s no controlling that. I don’t like all the new tech put into cars.
Sorry, what’s 4lo?
Its like j-lo, but for jeeps.
I’ve no idea what a j-lo is either. Never heard of it.
This is why we reset our vehicles when an employee leaves. Probably should do the same when you have a messy breakup.
With Tesla you can’t really do that, whatever account is registered as the owner (she transferred the ownership from her account to his) is the only one that can add and remove others to access the car via the app. The only other way is to show Tesla you are the actual owner of the car and then they can switch it back to your account. Fuckong nightmare.
There is another way: don’t own a Tesla.
Having owned a Tesla for 3 years, I can’t find the words to express how fucking right your statement is. Those things are the definition of the phrase “expensive, underwhelming and frustrating garbage”.
There’s only so much bullshit I’d put up with for that admittedly crazy acceleration (drove a friend’s once and they can go). From the privacy angle alone, I see them as basically ring doorbell cameras on wheels (though wonder if I should instead consider them like flock cameras on wheels). For safety, they can require having the presence of mind (and physical capability, which could be impossible if an accident occurred) to remove a door panel to access the mechanical door latch while the car is on fire. Build quality sucks. They are pretty much a poster child for overpromise underdeliver.
And that’s not even touching who benefits from Tesla doing well.
I see them as basically ring doorbell cameras on wheels (though wonder if I should instead consider them like flock cameras on wheels).
Considering flock and ring worked together before and sell the same product, just to different customers, I wouldn’t bother differentiating.
Enrico Pucci was able to control his former partner’s electric car remotely, controlling its speed, temperature settings and lock
Though owner controls they were given full access to. Strange how that was left out.
Maybe don’t give root access to your device out to your partner of a few months.
Knowing how gaslighting and Stockholm syndrome looks like, the owner/victims may think their partner is made in heaven.
And what does that have to do with Tesla?
Add it to the ever-growing pile of why fly-by-wire for cars is and always will be a bad idea.
I think the problem here is more that the car has a network connection. I’m not sure how you could feasibly have an EV that isn’t fly-by-wire (meaning controlled by a computer or microcontroller).
Even something like a BMS is, in and of itself a computer.
The only wireless connectivity a car should have is Bluetooth to connect your phone to the head unit that is disconnected from the rest of the car.
It’s be nice to see some kind of modern EV run fully open source software.
Remember kids, if you give full control of you car to someone else you will have a bad time.
this is how so many marriages end with abusers.
but ok…i guess we just blame the victims for abusers who own the ultimate choice over their own behaviour
You’re right, it’s better to pretend abusers don’t exists and don’t take any precautions. Leave our door open, use single password for everything and carry wallets in our back pockets. When something bad happens we’ll just blame the criminal and everything will be fixed.
wow ok i get it. you hate victims. you know who else hates their victims? abusers. you talk like an abuser there with how much you hate victims.
I’ve seen dozens of cautionary tales written by abused women, telling others how abusers operate, what to look out for and what to do to stay safe. I guess all those women hate victims too.
Remember kids, if you give full control of you car to someone else you will have a bad time.
This isn’t advice, it’s victim blaming. It’s Pucci’s fault that he took control of her car and terrorized her.
Yes, I know, woman would have to say it to for it o be an advice. If a man says it it’s victim blaming.
It has nothing to do with gender and everything with you literally blaming the victim instead of the abuser.
wow so you cant see the difference there either. you abusers sure all love telling on yourselves.
I see prejudice, that’s enough.
I see so if your parents get scammed for every last penny leaving you no inheritance because they were too embarrassed and felt a bottomless pit of shame and humiliation to come forward about scam artists because no one can be vulnerable around you because you blame them for any misfortune. They can’t turn to you just for some strength or advice to do next steps for disaster management because disasters, challenges and growth aren’t permitted in your world.
And let me guess: everyone in the world ‘annoys’ you.
Wonderful relationship and empathy material of a typical npd.
Lots of folks going to ignore the part where she handed over root access.
This is a crime and tuck this guy. But it ain’t a Tesla issue.
The fact these controls exist at all is a fucking nightmare. How are these vehicles legally sold? This technology should illegal I’m vehicles.
