Impact with traffic cone - now what?

[DaiPlusPlus]

I'm driving from Seattle to Orlando in my Model X - I stopped by Mt. Rushmore earlier this week and left the monument's visitor complex late at night while roadwork traffic cones were on the highway, one of the cones was lying in the middle of the road and was already crushed, so I thought my car would simply run over it without incident - and I was doing 55mph and I didn't want to swerve to avoid it, lest I hit incoming traffic in the next lane, nor entering into the blocked-off lane to the right. In retrospect I should have been driving much slower so if I braked I wouldn't have hit it.

Here's the dashcam footage, the cone is visible from the 30 second mark:

And the damage photos are attached. The cone hit the front left foglight assembly which kicked it in, and took out the front-left wheel arch, it also pulled half of the felt-lining off the wheel-well. I was able to retrieve some of the debris from the highway: the forward felt-lining and some plastic bits, but another car ran-over the wheel-arch which shattered on-impact and went everywhere, erk!

I made it to the Supercharger in Custer, SD to assess the damage and sent photos to State Farm and cleared-up the initial damage. The next morning I took it to a local tyre shop who were able to get the felt lining back into place and re-mount the front-left foglight assembly, but the front-left parking sensor was inoperable so the car disabled parking assist entirely (so no parking beeps, no summon, constant warnings on the dashboard, and worryingly: no blind-spot indicators either).

I called up Tesla's nearested authorised body-shop in Omaha who said there's a day of 4-6 weeks for new front body-panels - so I'll get it taken care-of when I get back to Seattle. I also called the Tesla Service Center in Orlando (my final destination before returning) who said they couldn't fit me in for another week.

What options do I have to get the parking sensors working again? I get uncomfortable when trying to park in tight spaces and the lack of blind-spot indicators on the freeway is also concerning.

Also, the left-side doors are acting-up: about half the time the door proximity sensors think something is blocking the way so they only open a few inches and require overriding to open fully, but other times they work perfectly fine and open fully they way they're meant to. I noticed this after I took the car to a car-wash after the initial repair at the tyre shop.

 

[ewoodrick]

If you ever get a chance, go pick one of those things up, try to bend it.
I'm sure next time you won't think that is a small soft pillow laying in the road, those things are quite dangerous!

 

[DarkMatter]

Any chance the SC could pop in a new sensor without doing the rest of the fixes?

 

[Mrcook4590]

Maybe ask for a mobile tech?

 

[Lasairfion]

Wayward cones cause a number of accidents. I remember a while back several different people looking into collapsible alternatives. Unlucky that one got you!

 

[teethdood]

I think considering the speed, lighting, and the traffic at the time, I would have done the same thing by plowing into the cone. The damage is minimal whereas it could be worse if you had swerved. It sucks but stuff happens. I hope you'll get it fixed soon. The bigger issue is that Service Centers are so swamped. I used to get same day service with a loaner. Not anymore.

 

[DaiPlusPlus]

The bigger issue is that Service Centers are so swamped. I used to get same day service with a loaner. Not anymore.

Unfortunately Tesla told me that because this was a bodywork repair issue and not a warranty service repair job I would not qualify for a Tesla loaner - any temporary car I get would be the responsibility of my insurer, State Farm, and State Farm said I'd get whatever the nearest Enterprise rent-a-car has. Welp!

 

[aesculus]

Last fall I ran over a plastic paint bucket in much the same scenario outside Reno, NV. I was driving at a normal speed when the bucket suddenly appeared in my lane and I did not have time to verify that both adjacent lanes to me were clear, so I did my best to minimize the damage. I opted to set a wheel on it for a direct hit hoping I would destroy it before it got caught under the car and did some major damage.

For the next several miles I worried that the front tire would explode or at least leak so I monitored the air pressure until my first stop an hour later. When I stopped all I could find was the outer wheel well trim had pulled loose so I pushed it back in place. Later I discovered that a large hunk had actually broken off. When I got back from my trip the SC inspected the damage and determined that only the trim piece was affected and they replaced that for me.

 

[DarkMatter]

Not to pile on the OP, but this is a really good reminder not to overdrive your headlights, when possible.

 

[DaiPlusPlus]

Not to pile on the OP, but this is a really good reminder not to overdrive your headlights, when possible.

No, it's a fair complaint and you're correct. While I still would have driven over it (because I believed it would have crumpled) the damage would have been reduced significantly, I reckon.

 

[DarkMatter]

I learned the danger of traffic cones when I tried to kick one from a motorcycle and ended up with a sprained muscle in my leg. Ow.

 

[chillaban]

Traffic cones sound soft but those things pack a punch... Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

IANAL but you should probably research if there's a way to hold the DOT in that state responsible for your damages. There was nothing reasonable you could've done to avoid that other than maybe slamming on the brakes, but even that didn't leave you a lot of time.

Best of luck with getting the repairs done, and hopefully the insurance company doesn't consider this your fault.

 

[DarkMatter]

I suspect the state will push back with something like "speed too fast for conditions" if you do that, but hey, it might not hurt. I had a successful claim against the city once for getting paint on my car during a locate. It was just filling out a form and getting a quote to fix it, and they cut me a check.