Lorry smash

[Smiddy]

Hi all,

Had a great start to the new year today, driving back from dropping the other half off at work this morning, was sat in stationary in a long queue of traffic up to a set of lights and lorry rear end me and pushed me in to the back of the van in front of me which had a tow bar that made a lovely big dent in the front as well.

Car has been recovered and now sorting all the insurance bits, transport company has admitted full fault and their insurance is covering everything but I have a feeling the Model 3 will be a write off. Damage to the van in front of me looked minimal, it had bent the tow bar up a bit and a slight dent in the bottom of the back door.

I think the car did very well, the back of it must be solid.

Replacement car is arriving in the morning they are sending a Mercedes EQC 400

 

[navt]

Ouch. Sorry for your loss. Hope you are well though.

 

[LoudMusic]

It's always amazing to me how just a moment of inaction can undo so much hard work.

Be safe out there!

 

[UkNorthampton]

Very sad, hope all people well.

 

[MrT3]

Such a shame. Glad you are okay, you don’t normally tangle with something so large at get away unharmed.

Front and rear wings look ok, hopefully the headlights too - I think it could be repairable at a cost without it being written off. The biggest cost may be the rental on the Merc whilst the body shop waits for parts.

 

[Durzel]

Think that will be borderline. Quite a bit of damage on it and I’d be surprised if the repairs didn’t run to £15k or more. When you add the hire car costs in as well, especially given I imagine it will take some weeks to get parts etc, think it could go either way.

 

[cryo]

Looking at the flex in the rear quarter panels and bonnet I would suspect chassis damage/flexing so probably more damage than is apparently visible. The car stood up very well even to a slow moving truck which says a lot about Tesla's design/safety team.

 

[Billbrown1982]

Just judging by the damage to the front of the truck, he's hit you at a fair old speed. I would also be leaning towards a write off unfortunately as there's bound to be unseen structual damage there.

On the plus side....car values are through the roof right now so if it is, you should be able to negotiate a very good price.

Of course, on the downside....then you have to somehow source a replacement...

 

[GRiLLA]

Very glad you are ok. I too expect it'll be a gonna, chassis will be bent and the scrap price on undamaged batteries is high.

Still, that's one way to get the new one with the heat pump, electric tailgate, chrome delete etc. If you are lucky it could also come with the new MCU

 

[Neilio]

This is sad to see. But I hope everyone is OK, thats the main thing.

Teslas do seem to be double tough vehicles. I have also been hit whilst stationary by a much larger vehicle. Was surprised at how little damage there was

 

[Neilio]

Also as in aside, can you let me know what the EQC is like? I've always been a Mercedes fan and will eventually go to them when the create a viable and affordable EV. I suspect that the EQC is very much a "Gen1" attempt and is basically just a quick and dirty electrification of a GLC

 

[NigelT]

Shame about the car but good that you are OK after that.

 

[qwickshot]

That will be a write off I’m afraid, good that you are both ok though!

Both rear quarter panels are bent, boot, rear crash structure has gone and probably the floor in the back as well. Likewise the front crash structure has gone, both front wings, almost certainly the chassis rails underneath will be bent due to a tow bar impact (crash bar will have pulled them in) and of course the bonnet and all the rads and equipment in the front of the car will be shot. It looks like the drivers airbag went?

I’d get your £100 down for a new one now.

 

[pgkevet]

Agree it's a likely write-off - particularly at Tesla repair prices. Can I ask how long it took to get recovered? Was that via roadside, insurance or a 3rd party?

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Wonder if the HGV driver even looked up from his phone before he hit you? Modern lorries should also have AEB which was either disabled by the driver or he was going so fast it could only mitigate the effect of the collision.

 

[Fox86]

Ouch! Glad to hear everyone was OK that’s the main thing. Hope you get everything sorted easily and stress free

Look on the bright side now you can go test drive lots of new cars, always the best part of getting a new car

 

[Mr H]

Wonder if the HGV driver even looked up from his phone before he hit you? Modern lorries should also have AEB which was either disabled by the driver or he was going so fast it could only mitigate the effect of the collision.

Incorrect. AEB is not a standard fit and usually only comes with active cruise, we have 4 brand new Volvo FH and none have AEB.

 

[adsheff]

I think HGVs are extremely dangerous things - I can't for the life of me see why there isn't a law to fit AEB on them as standard. People have been killed after been rear-ended by HGV drivers. If we have the technology to stop it, and it is inexpensive, then why on earth wouldn't you install it?

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Incorrect. AEB is not a standard fit and usually only comes with active cruise, we have 4 brand new Volvo FH and none have AEB.

You might want to have a word with Volvo, then... ;-)

"From 1st November 2015, the General Safety Regulation has required the fitment of Advanced Emergency Braking Systems to new vehicles of categories M2, M3, N2 and N3."

 

[pgkevet]

The trouble with AEB is how well it actually works and when it does a phantom job. I’m sure someone will remember the link to the vid of Tesla's being tested and running into cardboard Elon. Like many aspects of tech it takes time to get right.