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EarlyAdopter
Active Member
One possibility is they were hooking a hard right to come around into one of those parking spaces and hit the wrong pedal - accelerator instead of brake - at the last moment and flew into the sign, steering wheel still cranked right. That would explain while the wheels are turned right, not left as you would expect from someone backing out of one of those spaces.
hikerockies
Member
+1
That was the first thing that struck me when I drove a Model S the very first time. This car is incredibly easy to control at lower speeds. Starting the car up at low speeds is very easy due to linear accelerator response. Most ICE cars have rather non-linear throttle response at low speeds.
Exactly. At the local corner store, a lady put her car through the front door. Hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. Typically what happens is, in the heat of the moment the instinctual reaction is that the brake isn't working and you need to press harder, but of course you're just giving it more power.
As for "no matter how impossible it seems"... it took the corner store a month to rebuild the front door and add two huge bollards to prevent that from happening again. That's when it happened again. This time the driver managed to avoid both bollards and drive into the door anyway.
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I have been to the factory for Supercharging about half a dozen times. As someone already inferred from the dirt on wheels that it was not a car just delivered. Also, when I took delivery, the new shiny cars to be delivered were parked a good 50-100 m (if not more) away from the store. It is unlikely for a car just delivered to be at this location. Also, given the orientation of the car, I don't think this happened right after someone charged their car.
My guess is - this is one of the cars used for test drives. This is where they often park those cars to be test driven, and someone embarking on a test drive or returning from one, in excitement/nervousness of getting in a Model S for the first time, confused D and R and crashed to the sign.
My guess is - this is one of the cars used for test drives. This is where they often park those cars to be test driven, and someone embarking on a test drive or returning from one, in excitement/nervousness of getting in a Model S for the first time, confused D and R and crashed to the sign.
docrice
Member
From what I recall, the corner of the building got hit as there were scuff marks. The driver was clearly shaken up a bit, but otherwise seemed fine (steering wheel airbag deployed). I heard a pretty loud crash while inside the building and I don't think the car hitting just the sign would've made a noise like the one I heard.
The reason I think it wasn't a demo car was because it had a Tesla pouch/sticker thing in the windshield on the passenger side which looks like one of those initial registration packets before you get your DMV plates, etc..
I remember seeing tire skid marks (which I can only assume were from this car) which started midway between the parking spaces where the Superchargers are and the parking spaces in front of the showroom (which were apparently empty when this happened) between the red sign and the stairs leading into the building. There was an indented trail in the decorative stones in the wake of the car so either the car originally started from the Supercharger station or was driving into the parking lot and a right turn into the parking space was being made when the accelerator was pressed instead of the brakes.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
GoBlue88
Member
Why would a test drive car have the HOV stickers and a temporary license tag? Don't those usually have dealer plates?
Don't think this was a test drive car. Some owner probably stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.
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Makes more sense. Didn't happen after charging but while attempting to back into a charger spot. Forgot to put it in R, accelerated forward, panicked and lost control.
Must be the brake and accelerator being too close issue again
Could be: it's disconcerting when you push on both pedals accidentally and the car doesn't behave as it always has in the past. It happens to me quite regularly, but I've learned the response well enough to know what's wrong before the car can give me the double-chime and warning message.
Now if Tesla values their front sign, they might consider hurrying up the crash avoidance feature.
here's one they can do with software immediately: Simon Game with the accelerator and brake pedal. When you attempt to put the car in park , the console switches to a picture of the brake on the left and the accelerator on the right. One of them then randomly blinks. You must hit the correct pedal with your foot. On success, the console then repeats the previous pattern, and adds an additional random pedal. You must hit the actual pedals with your foot in the correct sequence order. This continues and builds until the sequence is 10 pedals long. Once you can pass the 10th sequence, the car will switch to drive and allow you to drive the car. If you fail to hit the pedal sequence correctly or hit both pedals simultaneously, a big red FAIL is displayed in the console and the car shuts down and displays a message to find somebody else to drive. The car remembers the weight of the last person in the seat so if you failed and you attempt to sit down again it will beep at you until you get out. idiot driver problem solved.
Quite the solid construction of that sign--kudos to those engineers!
Maybe they'll get body parts fast seeing how close they are to the factory...
-m
Maybe they'll get body parts fast seeing how close they are to the factory...
-m
oh my...sounds like she shouldn't be driving. makes me sad it was a female :frown:
..."then got "scared" when she hit the accelerator and started moving forward so she accidentally gunned it instead of jumping on the brake"
the car may be quick but your mind should be waaaay quicker!!!
..."then got "scared" when she hit the accelerator and started moving forward so she accidentally gunned it instead of jumping on the brake"
the car may be quick but your mind should be waaaay quicker!!!
I've had a few times where I've thought I put it into forward/reverse and pressed the pedal and been surprised because I'd failed to push the gear lever sufficiently, something that's never happened to me before in 25 years of driving, but I've always driven manuals before. A little audible feedback on the gear change would be welcome. Even with the accidental "not in the gear I thought", my instinct when the car went the wrong direction was to immediately switch to the brake and stop, so no damage done.
I can certainly understand if you accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake and the car jumped that the reflex is to "brake" harder and by the time your mistake registers in the rational part of your brain, it's too late.
I can certainly understand if you accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake and the car jumped that the reflex is to "brake" harder and by the time your mistake registers in the rational part of your brain, it's too late.
I had that happen on the second or third day I had the car. Fortunately, I'm not in the habit of mashing the pedal so the car only went into the crosswalk a couple of feet (I was first at the stoplight, and no pedestrians were around--it's Texas after all). I thought to myself, "Wow, so that's pedal confusion". Now that I know what it is, it's never happened since.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I almost hate to say this because you know what happens... but I've never had this experience with the Model S or any other car I've driven in the past 39 years of driving.
Pilot_51
Member
The closest I've come to that is shifting between reverse and drive at 3-4mph in the driveway or parking lot without touching the brake, sometimes it would only shift to neutral and make the error noise and I'd take another second to realize it didn't shift and hit the brake. No accidents or close calls from that, fortunately.
As for pedals, so far my only problem in I think every car I've driven has on occasion been switching from brake to accelerator and I accidentally tap the brake on the way, usually when I unexpectedly need to accelerate (e.g. light turns green and I'm in front). It always goes through my head that now everyone behind me knows what I did.
As for pedals, so far my only problem in I think every car I've driven has on occasion been switching from brake to accelerator and I accidentally tap the brake on the way, usually when I unexpectedly need to accelerate (e.g. light turns green and I'm in front). It always goes through my head that now everyone behind me knows what I did.
mgdurand
Member
I find that my internal clock operates at a different speed than the Tesla's computer. I sit down, hit the brake, shift the lever, and touch the accelerator and nothing happens - because it's still in park. This happens all the time, unless I slow my motions down and wait for the change to be made, and look at it on the dash which is irritating. I walk up to the car and the handles don't extend until half a second after I reach out to touch them. The charge door takes a lot of waving to get it to open, and then only opens after I reach in my pocket to hit the FOB.
The car is really 98%, but these human interface features are engineered for someone with a different nervous system. Or else I'm just too hyper. Or else they're poorly engineered, but I don't read a lot of people complaining so it's probably me.
I can totally see doing something when the "gear" is something different than you expect, because you are depending on a computer clock speed rather than a mechanical detent for feedback. Thing is always in Park when I want to go! Forward when you want to go back? Maybe. Keeping on the accelerator as a sign approaches though is probably perseveration.
The car is really 98%, but these human interface features are engineered for someone with a different nervous system. Or else I'm just too hyper. Or else they're poorly engineered, but I don't read a lot of people complaining so it's probably me.
I can totally see doing something when the "gear" is something different than you expect, because you are depending on a computer clock speed rather than a mechanical detent for feedback. Thing is always in Park when I want to go! Forward when you want to go back? Maybe. Keeping on the accelerator as a sign approaches though is probably perseveration.
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