gilscales
Banned
This is really good info, my (uneducated) guess from looking at the car would have been 20-25 mph.
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Model 3 Accident, Is this car really safe to drive?
- Thread starter bigroccrek
- Start date
This is really good info, my (uneducated) guess from looking at the car would have been 20-25 mph.
JeffK
Well-Known Member
20-25 mph would have been a bit more severe. I really think the regen helped tremendously here. Imagine being in an ICE in a high gear, that would have been much worse.
Apparently he passed out after his appendix burst, and has been in the hospital. Sounds like a one time event.
Never once brought up the "Legal Card" not in my nature. Tesla didn't cause the accident, I just want to make sure that the car was assembled correctly in the rush to meet the third quarter numbers.I love that video - "and not by Chris Hemsworth"
Basically - TLDR
If you're alive to talk about the crash, best be figuring out the email you're sending to Tesla to say "thanks for saving my life" because reaching for the legal card is going to make you look silly and cost you lots of money.
Tesla likely won't give you this data (not aware of a single instance of this happening), but if you ship the computing unit to me there's a chance I can extract last 10 seconds of footage before the crash (can't decode the canbus data yet to show the speed though, perhaps some day...).
JeffK
Well-Known Member
Looks like it was... handled the accident like a champ. If you do get data, you'll have to update us on your final speed (before 0 mph).
@bigroccrek so glad you are able to be here posting. I too think it likely that when you passed out from the appendix burst that your foot slipped off the accelerator and the regen did the slowing for you. Gosh why does it seem that cars seem to gravitate toward trees and telephone poles! Being in Tesla with regen may have saved you from more serious injury. That plus the design of the crumple zone.
When I saw your car photos I gasped. Looks like from the interior only damage I'm seeing is the rearview mirror and some windshield damage but looking pretty intact. Have you seen the car since the accident?
So glad you are with your family and friends and us for the holidays and on the mend. After seeing the photos and comments here I would not be concerned about getting back in another Model 3 or other Tesla. The repair costs can be high but in terms of human life less than being seriously injured or dying from an accident in one.
Not sure how the Federal tax credit works but someone here probably knows from experience already. I think it will be okay since it was an accident and not you buying and reselling after not holding it on for a certain amount of time. But just speculating.
When I saw your car photos I gasped. Looks like from the interior only damage I'm seeing is the rearview mirror and some windshield damage but looking pretty intact. Have you seen the car since the accident?
So glad you are with your family and friends and us for the holidays and on the mend. After seeing the photos and comments here I would not be concerned about getting back in another Model 3 or other Tesla. The repair costs can be high but in terms of human life less than being seriously injured or dying from an accident in one.
Not sure how the Federal tax credit works but someone here probably knows from experience already. I think it will be okay since it was an accident and not you buying and reselling after not holding it on for a certain amount of time. But just speculating.
BTW is that a temp license plate sticker I see on the passenger side windshield? How long have you had your car before this happened?
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Glad you are on the mend now. Sounds very painful.
It’s worth making sure Tesla looks at the logs and determines whether anything needs to be adjusted, but fortunately it looks like you were not going that fast when you hit the pole (and it moved). It is strange that Tesla was not notified though - you would think that this would be enough of a deceleration to be able to identify it as an accident. But, they presumably have a formula to avoid false alarms - might need some tuning - or maybe they don’t bother if airbags don’t deploy.
Not that it really matters, but the car is very likely totaled. Just for perspective, the picture below is a total loss Tesla, Performance Model 3. I was surprised, but someone I know who is an adjuster took the picture of it and knows it is a salvage. The cost of repair plus salvage value exceeds the value of the vehicle...labor costs for shops to repair Teslas can be very high.
This is probably good for you that it is totaled, on balance, of course. You can probably get in another Model 3 sooner (if you so choose), rather than waiting for repairs. Might be good to wait until the new year to see what may happen to prices, though! They’ll be tweaking those demand levers again I would think.
It’s worth making sure Tesla looks at the logs and determines whether anything needs to be adjusted, but fortunately it looks like you were not going that fast when you hit the pole (and it moved). It is strange that Tesla was not notified though - you would think that this would be enough of a deceleration to be able to identify it as an accident. But, they presumably have a formula to avoid false alarms - might need some tuning - or maybe they don’t bother if airbags don’t deploy.
Not that it really matters, but the car is very likely totaled. Just for perspective, the picture below is a total loss Tesla, Performance Model 3. I was surprised, but someone I know who is an adjuster took the picture of it and knows it is a salvage. The cost of repair plus salvage value exceeds the value of the vehicle...labor costs for shops to repair Teslas can be very high.
This is probably good for you that it is totaled, on balance, of course. You can probably get in another Model 3 sooner (if you so choose), rather than waiting for repairs. Might be good to wait until the new year to see what may happen to prices, though! They’ll be tweaking those demand levers again I would think.
Glad to hear you are ok. I know it's human nature to second guess things. But honestly, if it was me, the title of the thread would be: My Tesla Model 3 Saved My Life.
I wouldn't be second-guessing the car. I'd be looking to get another one as soon as I can.
I wouldn't be second-guessing the car. I'd be looking to get another one as soon as I can.
+1, passed out and saved by the car's tech and design? I would be kissing the car and thanking Tesla. Looks like the crumple zone worked as it should. People often look at these pics and go "wow that's terrible". But remember the crumple zone is supposed to look terrible, that's how it looks when it does its job. The pole never penetrated deep enough for the air bag to deploy.
Thread title definitely should've been My Tesla Model 3 Saved My Life.
suwaneedad
Member
Sure you're $7500 is secure from the car that was wrecked.
But hey, I'd be pushing my insurer HARD to get them to total it in the coming days.
So that I could walk into a Tesla location and score another $7500 tax credit before 12/31 with an inventory vehicle.
Gotta move quickly.
Worth it.
The hood is bent, yes, but it is barely creased at the impact site and the pole is barely past the leading edge of the front wheels.
It's possible that automatic emergency braking kicked in to slow to the car down.
Glad you are ok!
Krugerrand
Meow
I’m so very glad you weren’t hurt but give me a break with the ‘I just want to make sure that the car was, blah, blah, blah...’ crap.
You weren’t injured beyond a sore chest due to the seat belt. I get being shaken after the accident, but stop looking for something to be wrong with the car that just saved your butt and be thankful you’ll be spending the holiday season with your family and friends.
Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year! Go buy another Tesla.
No need to be a dick.
I do believe that the car seemed to have handled the crash quite well. I just want to make sure it functioned as it was intended as far as air bags and Tesla notification go.
Yes I did and I checked it and the only videos remaining were out the front while sitting in the tow yard.....:-(
Garlan Garner
Banned
Well that's unfortunate.
Lesson to us all - grab those black boxes ( dash cam video sticks ) out of the USB port ASAP after an accident.
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My father in law fell asleep at the wheel of his Explorer on I-80 doing 75 MPH with cruise on, and drifted off the highway. He woke up after hitting a light pole and fortunately remained composed enough to not swerve but rather brake straight and true. The pole ripped through the entire engine compartment between the block and inner fender before the light pole sheer bolts gave way and flipped the pole over his roof. He's very fortunate. The airbags didn't ignite, and in later discussions with his insurance and Ford, it was determined they shouldn't have. Wrong circumstances. They don't ignite in every accident, and in some circumstances can make the situation worse. My own philosophy is I trust the NHTSA tests, and in those, the Model 3 was exemplary.
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