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Major accident for me tonight (5/26) (New P85 arrives 7/8)
- Thread starter GasDoc
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
Keep in mind we're in the "recording phase" of the internet era. Everything seems more frequent, less frequent, "world first", etc. until it's properly vetted.
Not in the US.
That video is from Singapore I believe.
Looking at crash encores there is no discernible increase in red light runnings and/or crashes.
It is VERY common in Asia.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I witnessed a crash like that in person a couple of years ago. I happened to notice a black Honda next to me at night with no lights on. He stopped next to me at a red light and I was trying to get his attention when suddenly, he just zipped out into the intersection on the red and was t-boned by a pickup truck doing at least 50 MPH. The guy in the pickup didn't even have a chance to touch his brakes and the Honda was demolished beyond recognition. This was around Christmas time, and I suspect he may have been under the influence. Sad, but it sure makes the point that these things really only take a blink of the eye.
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
A few years ago my wife had something similar happen right in front of her. She followed another car off the line into an intersection after the light turned green. A pickup truck ran the red and took out the car in front of her. Fortunately, we had just done a Car Control Clinic through the local BMW club a few weeks before. The accident avoidance drill was fresh in her mind and she knew to slam hard on the brakes and crank the steering wheel fast to one side to avoid getting tangled up in the spinning mess in front of her.
If you've never done a driving clinic I highly recommend it. Can't emphasize it enough. BMW, Audi, and Porsche all run great regional clubs with excellent instructors. Their driving schools are open to anyone, and they welcome any make and model of car. You even usually get a chance to do a small autocross or a few slow laps on a track at the end of the day. Fun and informative. You never know when the skills you pick up will be needed. They might even just save your life. I make a point to go do one of these classes every time I get a new car.
If you've never done a driving clinic I highly recommend it. Can't emphasize it enough. BMW, Audi, and Porsche all run great regional clubs with excellent instructors. Their driving schools are open to anyone, and they welcome any make and model of car. You even usually get a chance to do a small autocross or a few slow laps on a track at the end of the day. Fun and informative. You never know when the skills you pick up will be needed. They might even just save your life. I make a point to go do one of these classes every time I get a new car.
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And as we've mentioned a few times already: plan for both the inevitable and the undesirable. Someday you are going to die... so make sure you have a will, estate planning, and everything else necessary to ensure that you are the one making the choices about what happens after you die to your family and your stuff. It's not hard, just takes some time and some attention. Make sure you appoint a guardian for your kids if they're underage when you die and both you and your wife happen to die at the same time. Then, make sure you appoint another guardian in case the first one refuses (weird things can happen even if you've talked this through) or is no longer available. Then, rinse and repeat the process for what should happen if you are incapacitated but not dead.
Not fun, but also not too tough, and definitely one of the best investments of time and resources that anyone can make. I won't bother you with the horror stories, but rest assured they do exist.
Not fun, but also not too tough, and definitely one of the best investments of time and resources that anyone can make. I won't bother you with the horror stories, but rest assured they do exist.
And as we've mentioned a few times already: plan for both the inevitable and the undesirable. Someday you are going to die... so make sure you have a will, estate planning, and everything else necessary to ensure that you are the one making the choices about what happens after you die to your family and your stuff.
[...]
Not fun, but also not too tough, and definitely one of the best investments of time and resources that anyone can make. I won't bother you with the horror stories, but rest assured they do exist.
This goes doubly if you insist upon using unsafe charging methods.
What I am referring to is my own experience on the roads - been driving about 40 years. It's only in the last few years that I've seen a number of near collisions due to running red lights at high speed. There have always been the people that run red lights as they are changing. But, it's the situations where people just don't see the red that seem to be more frequent. As such, I have gotten a lot more cautious about pulling out after the light has turned green, especially left turns which seem to be the worst.
It could be the distractions that electronic devices are bringing in... but I'm going to suggest also that it may be related to local municipalities shortening yellow cycles to the bare minimum to maximize red-light camera revenue, and the trend is simply expanding even to those non-red-light cameras.
Take a driver that has looked at the light, has seen green, and misses the fact it's changing until it's too late. Whether it was because he was distracted because he had electronics in his face or whatever, the shortened yellow shortens your "re-check" interval of the light status as a driver.
(Yes, most drivers should be able to see lights in the periphery, etc.)
mknox
Well-Known Member
I think it's all of our modern-day distractions, personally. I remember when cars didn't even have cupholders, and no one drank coffee in their cars (they did have cigarette lighters and everyone smoked, so maybe that's a wash!). Drinking/eating and cell phones are the biggest contributors to distracted driving that I usually see.
In my neck of the woods, I have not noticed reduced yellows, and, in fact, have noticed the opposite. We seem to have not only normal yellow times, but a lot of intersections will go red in all directions for a brief period of time. The problem is, people now know and anticipate this, and have no qualms about running yellows and even "fresh" reds on the assumption that the other direction is red too. I ALWAYS look both ways when heading into an intersection, especially if I am the first car through on a green. It has saved me collisions on more than one occasion.
You know that too frequent Viagra causes temporary color blindness!!! :redface: :biggrin: FAA sent out an advisory circular several years ago because some pilots were failing their color vision testing!
Many are not aware!!
I was in a near-accident yesterday. I was on the on-ramp of a highway, accelerating to get up to speed, so I was travelling at about 50 MPH, when a car pulls out about 50 feet in front of me from a second on-ramp. (I had the right of way - her on-ramp had "yield"-signs.) That was terrifying - the brakes were out of the question, I'd probably have struck her at 40 MPH if I'd hit the brakes. Luckily, the merging on-ramp was juuust after it was possible to turn onto the highway, so just as I could see the terror in her eyes I managed to swerve past her car. I was closer than 1 foot, but no damage was done to either vehicle. I obviously had no time at all to check my mirror or blind spot, so it was blind luck that I didn't end up in an accident on the highway.
It could have been ugly, I drive a 98 Honda CR-V, and she was driving a 92 Golf (?). My car was aimed right at her drivers side door. Couple that with a slight weight-disadvantage, and I'm fairly sure she almost died yesterday. I should have been mostly okay, as I was wearing my seat belt and have front airbags at least.
Anyway, as I was driving home, I was very much considering getting the Model S. These sorts of accidents can happen through no fault of your own, and if it happens, I would much rather be driving such a safe car as the Model S. But after some thought I still want to hold out a few more years, for the Model X, and for the home I'm building to be done. There are way safer cars than the CR-V, but the CR-V isn't the most unsafe car either.
It could have been ugly, I drive a 98 Honda CR-V, and she was driving a 92 Golf (?). My car was aimed right at her drivers side door. Couple that with a slight weight-disadvantage, and I'm fairly sure she almost died yesterday. I should have been mostly okay, as I was wearing my seat belt and have front airbags at least.
Anyway, as I was driving home, I was very much considering getting the Model S. These sorts of accidents can happen through no fault of your own, and if it happens, I would much rather be driving such a safe car as the Model S. But after some thought I still want to hold out a few more years, for the Model X, and for the home I'm building to be done. There are way safer cars than the CR-V, but the CR-V isn't the most unsafe car either.
Years ago, I was headed out to lunch with a big group of friends from the office. Big enough group that it was two cars. My friend's car was first at the red light, and I was behind him. The light turned green, and he pulled into the intersection, and a woman clipped the front of his car in a fashion very similar to GasDoc's accident, but perhaps less severely.
Nobody was hurt, but ever since then, I've tried to make it a habit to look even when the light is green. I think I do this mostly if I'm the first car at the light (since I think most red light running is people trying to beat the red), but the various "wildest police chases" and dash cam videos suggest that it's not a bad idea to go ahead and look every time. Now to try to create that habit...
Nobody was hurt, but ever since then, I've tried to make it a habit to look even when the light is green. I think I do this mostly if I'm the first car at the light (since I think most red light running is people trying to beat the red), but the various "wildest police chases" and dash cam videos suggest that it's not a bad idea to go ahead and look every time. Now to try to create that habit...
I have been driving almost 50 years and I cannot count the close calls I've had, including people trying to force me out of the car pool lane in an EV. I've learned to count three seconds before pulling into an intersection on a green. That saved my life several times.
A bit off topic, but since this thread is talking about accidents I thought I would mention it. Someone posted on a different thread about almost being scammed by a towing company claiming to be sent by Tesla. Be careful if a towing company shows up really quickly. And don't let anyone hook up your car before you verify that they are legitimate.
A bit off topic, but since this thread is talking about accidents I thought I would mention it. Someone posted on a different thread about almost being scammed by a towing company claiming to be sent by Tesla. Be careful if a towing company shows up really quickly. And don't let anyone hook up your car before you verify that they are legitimate.
In my experience, Tesla Roadside Assistance will give you the name of the firm that they have sent.
I've heard from the dealer and an engineer from Tesla that my car is going to be declared a "Total Loss". Still waiting for confirmation from the insurance company--Update: Spoke with the inspector and it's a Total. Apparently the thing that tipped the scales is that the tow truck driver did some damage to the battery with improper towing methods from the rear. It's a REALLY expensive part!
I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad that I won't have to drive a car that had it's crush zone rebuilt but I'm saddened by the loss of my low VIN car that I had put so many hours washing and polishing. I'm working with Tesla sales to get back into a Model S ASAP. I can get an 85 Performance right now in the color and options I want or I can wait for a new build if I want my exact model in 60kWh.
I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad that I won't have to drive a car that had it's crush zone rebuilt but I'm saddened by the loss of my low VIN car that I had put so many hours washing and polishing. I'm working with Tesla sales to get back into a Model S ASAP. I can get an 85 Performance right now in the color and options I want or I can wait for a new build if I want my exact model in 60kWh.
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Very sorry to hear. But perhaps this is a blessing in the long run. Interesting that the towing caused more damage. Was the towing service provided by Tesla?
A real bummer, to be sure.
A silver lining is that whatever car you get will benefit from improved assembly line methodology, I have read several anecdotal comments by drivers who noted better fit & finish as well as reduced noise in recent VIN cars.
I hope you get behind the wheel of an S ASAP.
As noted above, I also think the whole tow-induced damage issue has to be clarified.
A silver lining is that whatever car you get will benefit from improved assembly line methodology, I have read several anecdotal comments by drivers who noted better fit & finish as well as reduced noise in recent VIN cars.
I hope you get behind the wheel of an S ASAP.
As noted above, I also think the whole tow-induced damage issue has to be clarified.
I don't think it was Tesla's service. The driver ignored me when I told him he had to put the car on "skates". He said that because my airbags deployed, it meant my car was totaled and implied that it didn't matter what he did from that point on.
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