Tesla car is a cat-killer when you start up and drive off says Jamie Lynn Spears

Jamie Lynn Spears, the younger sister of singer Britney Spears, and an American actress and singer in her own right, has confessed that she has accidentally ran over her cats with her car when she starts up and drives off. Jamie Spears has acquired $6 million apparently in her career and therefore has disposable income. With that income she decided to buy a Tesla car. Being good for the environment must have been a factor.

Jamie Lynn Spears says that her Tesla car is a cat-killer because it is too silent when it starts up. Image: Unilad.

However, in an Instagram story shared by Pop Crave in January 2022, Spears tells us that her Tesla has caused her more grief and happiness.

She said: 

"Someone's got to let Elon Musk know that the Tesla is a secret cat-killer, and it’s a problem that we’ve really got to fix. We have now lost — I don’t even want to tell you how many cats — because they don’t hear the Tesla crank and unfortunate things happen and it’s really devastating and tragic for everyone involved. So, since the Tesla is so quiet, maybe he could make one of those noises that bother cat or animal ears when it cranks up, so that way they know something’s happening, and they aren’t caught off-guard and things don’t end in a very tragic way."

The section in bold typeface is disconcerting. It implies that several cats have been crushed by her car. My interpretation of that statement is this. Domestic cats like to go underneath cars that are parked in the driveway. Or if they are let outside, they often make their way underneath parked cars down the street. This is a classic domestic cat activity. They don't realise the danger.

If your cat is parked in your driveway and if they are allowed outside, they may go underneath your car. You jump in your car to drive off and there is little or no noise from the car to alert your cat that the vehicle is about to move. The cat is surprised and I'm going to guess sometimes they are caught under the wheels. They are killed by their owner's car. This is, I believe, what Jamie Lynn Spears is referring to. If I'm incorrect then please correct me. P.S. It seems that she has said that she has not driven her car over her cats. I'm getting mixed messages. Perhaps someone can clarify.

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The first thing to do is for Tesla to investigate this properly if they are so minded. They should investigate it because domestic cats are important to people. They are, as we all know, treated as family members. This polite complaint by this celebrity should not be brushed under the carpet in my opinion.

Jamie Lynn Spears is suggesting that Tesla do something about it. My thoughts are these. They could fit a button to the dashboard computer screen or a voice command which is activated when the driver sits by the steering wheel and is about to take off. Or this could be activated automatically.

If a voice command is used the driver could tell their vehicle to emit a sharp high-pitched noise for a few seconds. This should scare the cat away. That kind of solution may be the best one. The manufacturers may be able to retrofit something because they already have a device which creates sound namely the horn and they already have high-tech computer software built-into the Tesla. 

And I will presume that the on-board computer accepts voice commands. If I'm correct it should be fairly easy to add some sort of warning sound to drive away cats underneath the car before setting off in the morning.