Bah! Ran over a ladder and damaged the undercarriage.

[Az_Rael]

I hate road debris! You end up playing chicken with last minute decisions to straddle or swerve. I chose “straddle” after seeing one car clear it then saw it was a dang construction ladder! Ssssccccrrrrraaaaaaaappppeee!

Sigh. Drove home and checked out the underside. Nothing leaking, and to looks like just the cover is damaged (hopefully). Booked an appointment next week with the Service Center to see how much this is gonna cost me. Would rather pay out of pocket than file for insurance at this point.

Will keep folks updated with repair costs.

 

[SMAlset]

Wow, a construction ladder! And yes always a tough choice to veer or not veer especially when you don't have time to get a good eye on what it is. Good luck with the repair and hope it's just the cover. You've really had a rough time of it the last few months. Hope the rest of the year is better!

 

[Wshowell]

Ouch. You’ve got to be one of the most unlucky drivers out there. I’m sorry.

 

[astrothad]

Yikes! Sorry you had to deal with this. I wish there was better monitoring/higher fines for having items like this come loose from vehicles.

Do we know whether the Model 3 has the titanium plate across the front like the S and the X for protecting the battery? That damage looks like it's some fiber/composite protecting the battery. How far back on the underside is the damage?

 

[SMAlset]

So since you were installing a dash cam in it the other day do we get to see video?

 

[PoitNarf]

Dude that sucks. Hopefully the repairs aren’t too costly.

 

[TechVP]

Will keep folks updated with repair costs.

Yes, please do. I sympathize.
-TechVP

 

[C141medic]

I can definitely sympathize. A few years back I was on a bridge and a ladder just slid right off the top of a construction van. Fortunately for me it was in the middle lane and I was on the right. I’m sure the other cars behind the van suffered damage which sucks. Sorry to hear that happened to you especially so soon after your accident and with a new car.

 

[Az_Rael]

Ouch. You’ve got to be one of the most unlucky drivers out there. I’m sorry.

Tell me about it. This one was all my fault tho - I had time to swerve, just made the wrong choice.

Yikes! Sorry you had to deal with this. I wish there was better monitoring/higher fines for having items like this come loose from vehicles.

Do we know whether the Model 3 has the titanium plate across the front like the S and the X for protecting the battery? That damage looks like it's some fiber/composite protecting the battery. How far back on the underside is the damage?

It does have a metal cover - the picture is taken looking under the front of the car with the camera pointed towards the rear. It looks like a plastic piece where you would scrape over curbs, then the fiber/composite stuff that was damaged, then metal cover protecting the battery. The fiber stuff looks like it sticks down the lowest.

So since you were installing a dash cam in it the other day do we get to see video?

LOL - I sure do. Here is my poor choice in all its HD glory! Note the video is mirror-reversed because my Blackvue is mounted upside down and doesn't have an option to flip the front camera video, so I did it in an editor. Just goes to show I am a really good driver sometimes (when dodging oncoming cars), and not so much others. Which is why I sometimes worry when Elon says AP will be at least twice as good as the AVERAGE driver. That ain't that good, really.

You can see I had plenty of time to decide to not run over it, although in my defense I didn't see it was a LADDER until the last second. The white car two cars up did make it over which affected my decision. But I forgot how low slung Telsas are.

I did manage to dodge the sawhorse that was also deposited on the road farther up.

 

[e-FTW]

Tell me about it. This one was all my fault tho - I had time to swerve, just made the wrong choice.



It does have a metal cover - the picture is taken looking under the front of the car with the camera pointed towards the rear. It looks like a plastic piece where you would scrape over curbs, then the fiber/composite stuff that was damaged, then metal cover protecting the battery. The fiber stuff looks like it sticks down the lowest.



LOL - I sure do. Here is my poor choice in all its HD glory! Note the video is mirror-reversed because my Blackvue is mounted upside down and doesn't have an option to flip the front camera video, so I did it in an editor. Just goes to show I am a really good driver sometimes (when dodging oncoming cars), and not so much others. Which is why I sometimes worry when Elon says AP will be at least twice as good as the AVERAGE driver. That ain't that good, really.

You can see I had plenty of time to decide to not run over it, although in my defense I didn't see it was a LADDER until the last second. The white car two cars up did make it over which affected my decision. But I forgot how low slung Telsas are.

I did manage to dodge the sawhorse that was also deposited on the road farther up.

There should be some hefty fines for unsecured loads. Just screws and nails that cause so many punctures. Or maybe folks should use closed trucks instead of pickup trucks where you just dump things in.
But then the pickup truck lobby would get involved and kill that bill...

Hope you get off easy on those repairs, that was painful to watch!

 

[run-the-joules]

When in doubt, apply brakes while you assess. if someone rear ends you, well, that's their fault.

 

[AudubonB]

It's terrible when you take a rung turn.

 

[SMAlset]

LOL Ladder of Doom! With fuel efficiency on EVs becoming even more important with competition among manufacturers I think we will see more cars with lower suspensions and probably more of this type of damage to the underside of cars. Glad you were OK yourself this time around.

 

[MP3Mike]

You can see I had plenty of time to decide to not run over it, although in my defense I didn't see it was a LADDER until the last second. The white car two cars up did make it over which affected my decision. But I forgot how low slung Telsas are.

Low slung, but yet the mildest after-market spring upgrade lowers the car 1.5"...

Did you by chance stop and pickup/move the ladder? If so, did it have a company name on it? (Lots of companies put their names on it so that ladders don't get mixed up on multi-contractor job sites.) If so you should contact them to get the their insurance information since they are responsible for all the damage and repair costs to your car.

 

[Az_Rael]

Low slung, but yet the mildest after-market spring upgrade lowers the car 1.5"...

Did you by chance stop and pickup/move the ladder? If so, did it have a company name on it? (Lots of companies put their names on it so that ladders don't get mixed up on multi-contractor job sites.) If so you should contact them to get the their insurance information since they are responsible for all the damage and repair costs to your car.

I did not stop as it was on the freeway. Too dangerous to move myself. Folks who weren’t so lucky dodging the sawhorse that probably fell of the same truck had stopped to asses the damage to their cars. They hopefully got a company name or something.


Years ago I had a contractor pickup truck lose a full 5 gallon bucket of random tools, nuts and bolts right in front of me. Took out the VW emblem on my Jetta. And once I had just changed lanes when the pickup truck who was in front of me lost a still-in-the-box new refrigerator. It looked a bit dicey so I got out from behind him just in time. It got so bad the local news (DFW area) did a story about all the lost loads and had my favorite “man on the street” quote ever. Fellow with a strong East Texas accent said “I had to dodge a MATTRESS!”

The craziest thing I ever saw on the road, although not loose debris, was a fellow who was hauling his horse on a low-boy trailer. Horse just tied up to the front with a lead sitting out in the wind on the freeway. Too bad there weren’t dash cams back then. That fellow did get pulled over.

 

[xav-]

There should be some hefty fines for unsecured loads. Just screws and nails that cause so many punctures. Or maybe folks should use closed trucks instead of pickup trucks where you just dump things in.
But then the pickup truck lobby would get involved and kill that bill...

Hope you get off easy on those repairs, that was painful to watch!

I used to say the same thing.. until my 2 surfboards and the roof rack flew off my car on the freeway

 

[Sandollars]

Dang that sucks....

 

[e-FTW]

I used to say the same thing.. until my 2 surfboards and the roof rack flew off my car on the freeway

Get a minivan, carry the boards inside! ;-)

 

[astrothad]

I used to say the same thing.. until my 2 surfboards and the roof rack flew off my car on the freeway

There might be a solution for that. (Skip to 12:45)

 

[insaneoctane]

Well from watching the video I am not sure that I would have done anything differently in the moment ...