Model S accidents

[mknox]

I too think many of my fellow Tesla Model S owners need to slow down and follow the rules of the road! None of us want an accident!

Agreed. I find myself driving faster than I should now, but for a somewhat bizarre reason: I have a long commute and got in the habit of driving at or below the limit (in the right hand lane, of course) for the sole purpose of saving fuel and money. I started running some numbers and realized the dollar savings were not insubstantial. (Fuel costs was my top reason for purchasing a Model S). Now with "fuel" costs so much lower, I find myself flying along in the "fast" lane, darting in and out and so forth. I gotta start toning it down :tongue:

 

[vfx]

We went through this on the Roadster too. This forum showed lots of pictures of destroyed all carbon fiber Teslas. Insurance rates never really went up over other similar cars.

 

[derekt75]

tjimtjim

+1 this is a luxury sports sedan. Drive it with class! I too think many of my fellow Tesla Model S owners need to slow down and follow the rules of the road! None of us want an accident!

None of us want an accident, but some of us feel that exceeding the speed limit is a reasonable trade off on the
enjoyable_life/safe_life continuum.
[knocking on wood]

Fiddling with the radio while speeding and drunk is probably not a particularly good trade off.

 

[lolachampcar]

mknx,
Funny, I used to drive in a spirited manner with my ICEs. Now I feel an enhanced calm ala Demolition Man with a lifetime average of 320 WHr/mile. It is nice to just relax in such a wonderful environment.

 

[lorih]

Other news media are starting to cover the Model S/electric pole accident that was highlighted below. Interestingly the other news stories don't focus on the fact that the driver survived (though one article says 'uninjured'), but they chose to focus on the emergency responders worrying about getting electrocuted by EV and having to check Tesla website for safety info. (Tesla has done extensive training video for first responders EV training, so no need to worry here).

But, in keeping with the current fashion, journalist aren't checking facts. One says, "young women driver" one says "young women driver under the influence of alcohol" another refers to the driver as "he"!

Fortunately, the Model S is well designed, and is the safest car out there right now in terms of occupant safety. If you ask me that should be the take home message of these articles.

 

[Electric1]

Proud to know you.

Ditto on that!

 

[DriverOne]

I got rear ended Someone going probably 40-50mph hit a van behind me, who got pushed into me, at what speed I don't know. I was the only occupant, & had a headache for a couple of days. About six weeks to fix, $10K+.

.

 

[yobigd20]

I got rear ended Someone going probably 40-50mph hit a van behind me, who got pushed into me, at what speed I don't know. I was the only occupant, & had a headache for a couple of days. About six weeks to fix, $10K+.View attachment 28624View attachment 28625.

hey well at least it doesn't blow up like Jeep's do when they get rear ended!

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Also @DriverOne , what is your VIN# and do you have child seats? reason I ask is bc <6000 vin & any car that has rear facing child seats has a structurally reinforced rear bumper....so curious if that is with or without that reinforcement.

 

[Andercam]

I got rear ended Someone going probably 40-50mph hit a van behind me, who got pushed into me, at what speed I don't know. I was the only occupant, & had a headache for a couple of days. About six weeks to fix, $10K+.View attachment 28624View attachment 28625.

That sucks! Sorry to see that.
Please tell me it wasn't a teenage girl that caused the accident. In the last three years, I have been rear ended two times both by teenaged girls. Both cases of distracted driving.

 

[yobigd20]

That sucks! Sorry to see that.
Please tell me it wasn't a teenage girl that caused the accident. In the last three years, I have been rear ended two times both by teenaged girls. Both cases of distracted driving.

the only time I was ever rear ended was by a 16yr old girl in ocean city MD. she actually didn't even look 16. i let her go the damage was so minor. and the fact that she was crying her eyes out. i told her to go straight home though haha

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also FYI - http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/20349-Safest-car-ever?p=416525#post416525 officially announced Tesla Model S Achieves Best Safety Rating of Any Car Ever Tested
Sets New NHTSA Vehicle Safety Score Record

 

[DriverOne]

More amazing news on the test results!

My VIN is 5004, so you're saying I have the extra rear bumper? Awesome if so. (I do not have the rear-facing child seats). The driver at the rear was a middle-aged man. No teenagers involved! I've no idea why he didn't see the stopped traffic.

I was able to drive off; all the lights worked. The trunk couldn't be opened though - any kids would have had to climb out over the back seat. The charge port worked, but the car insisted it was always open even when closed. No glass broken, expect for a chip on the rear edge of the pano roof, perhaps caused by the tail being pushed up against it.

Going through my mind immediately post-crash, while the car was still rolling, was what was I supposed to do on the main screen, put it in tow mode or something? My poor panicked brain. It seemed to take a while before realizing that I needed to apply the brakes to stop! It freaked me out when I realized I was still moving - maybe the van behind was still pushing me? It all happened so quickly. I've seen people suggesting a "crash mode" for the central display, and I agree that would be a useful thing to have. Towing/flat bed instructions etc.

Oddly, after the crash there was a small pool of water just in front of the right-rear wheel, with a couple of drops on the body of the car that hadn't fully dripped down. I don't recall the AC causing a pool in that location before. Any ideas what could have leaked/condensed from that location?

 

[Doug_G]

Could have just been A/C condensation thrown around by the impact? I'm sure Tesla will want to give your car a going over.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I got rear ended Someone going probably 40-50mph hit a van behind me, who got pushed into me, at what speed I don't know. I was the only occupant, & had a headache for a couple of days. About six weeks to fix, $10K+.View attachment 28624View attachment 28625.

How badly damaged was the front of the van that got pushed into you? That would give some indication of how fast he was launched into you. Any pictures of him?

 

[wycolo]

Have it pounded out & sprayed. Pocket the $10k - or buy TSLA on the next dip.
--

 

[kevincwelch]

Baffles me that your rear end collision costs $10k to repair yet the small dent and aluminum repair for spatterso911's costs $12k -- must have been some serious underlying damage.

 

[Electric1]

Baffles me that your rear end collision costs $10k to repair yet the small dent and aluminum repair for spatterso911's costs $12k -- must have been some serious underlying damage.

Or a big difference in shops (and I'm not saying which way)

 

[DriverOne]

IIRC my front bumper replacement (yes I had just got the car back from the shop for that ) cost approx $2.5K. The rear is more like $12K and counting.

 

[NeverEnough]

This is the second time I've been hit.

Here's the dashcam: Dropbox - vlc-record-2014-03-01-16h25m38s-20140301_123441_E.mp4-.mp4

 

[Denarius]

Wow that sucks NeverEnough!

how did the other driver lose control?

 

[yobigd20]

Wow that sucks NeverEnough!

how did the other driver lose control?

looks like it was raining and he just lost control and started sliding. if you step through the video his(or her's) wheel's aren't turned right to correct the slide. they were pointing straight which means your's just going to keep on sliding and not gain back control.

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actually not sure about the raining part now. all that stuff at the end coming down may have been parts flying off the other car.