Model S saved my life

[whttiger25]

Thursday evening my friend and I were driving home from Berkeley, CA to the Oakland hills on grizzly peak blvd. Driving perhaps a tad too spirited, a deer appeared at a curve at the worst possible moment. I instinctively (mistakenly) swerved to avoid it and my car ended up over the edge. We tumbled perhaps 150-200 feet down a steep slope, ended up upside down. While it was certainly the most terrifying seconds of my life, as we came to a rest I realized we were both totally ok. The cabin of the vehicle was totally in tact. We climbed out with only bruises and muscle soreness.

I don't know how to compare this with other cars but it felt rock solid to me and I feel lucky to be alive because of my tesla. Once I get insurance worked out I'm sure I'll be in another one. Maybe I'll be driving those mountain roads at night a bit more cautiously :-/

 

[Aieukl378]

...lucky you were driving the car that broke the roof testing machine!

 

[Btr_ftw]

Where do you live and what model was it? Maybe I can buy it from auction.


Oh and glad you are ok

 

[DiamondHands]

Glad you're ok OP

 

[Saghost]

I need a FB "Wow" reaction here. Driving cars off cliffs is not recommended. I'm glad you're okay, and I've read about a lot of fatal accidents from lesser slides down the hill, so you're probably right that the S kept you around.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

How scary! That could have been tragic, so glad you and your passenger are ok.

 

[UberEV1]

Very glad you are OK - I used to live up there and those hills are quite steep.

I am very curious how the Pano roof held up - do you feel up to describing how the car roof handled the tumbling?

 

[NikeWings]

Very glad you are OK - I used to live up there and those hills are quite steep.

I am very curious how the Pano roof held up - do you feel up to describing how the car roof handled the tumbling?

OP wow!!!! Freaking lucky guys you are!!!!!

I bet Tesla is also very curious in how the pano held up, along with the rest of the car.
So now I wonder, do insurance companies have the right to the remote diagnostics that Tesla tracks on all of us?

 

[whttiger25]

All -

I found the pano glass roof, in tact, about 10 feet up the hill. I had trouble opening the door, and actually climbed out through the roof, as the car was upside down but tilted towards the passenger side.

It wasn't a cliff per se, probably more like a 30-35 degree slope. No trees luckily in the path my car took.

As far as buying it in auction, no clue. It will be the property of Progressive insurance I think the only thing you'd be buying is parts of course

 

[Black/Black MS]

PSA: don't swerve when a large animal appears in the road in front of you. Apply the brakes.

 

[whttiger25]

PSA: don't swerve when a large animal appears in the road in front of you. Apply the brakes.

Yeah I think I have figure that one out

 

[Eclectic]

Thursday evening my friend and I were driving home from Berkeley, CA to the Oakland hills on grizzly peak blvd. Driving perhaps a tad too spirited, a deer appeared at a curve at the worst possible moment. I instinctively (mistakenly) swerved to avoid it and my car ended up over the edge. We tumbled perhaps 150-200 feet down a steep slope, ended up upside down. While it was certainly the most terrifying seconds of my life, as we came to a rest I realized we were both totally ok. The cabin of the vehicle was totally in tact. We climbed out with only bruises and muscle soreness.

I don't know how to compare this with other cars but it felt rock solid to me and I feel lucky to be alive because of my tesla. Once I get insurance worked out I'm sure I'll be in another one. Maybe I'll be driving those mountain roads at night a bit more cautiously :-/

This is a very interesting story. I lived in that area of Oakland and still subscribe to the neighborhood forum where incidents like this are always discussed. I saw no discussion of any cars going off Grizzly Peak lately and there is nothing in the news that I could find. Usually, a car going off that stretch of road would make the news simply because any recovery effort would require lots of police and fire presence and people would immediately start posting to the forum about the police activity. See, for example, this story from last year when a car went over the side (and note that the passengers survived, and they were not in a Tesla, so it's hard to argue that the Tesla said your life....)

Also, launching a car on the downslope side of grizzly peak and then having it tumble up to 200 ft down the hill would have left you precariously perched on a slope that would be difficult to climb up in the best of circumstances, let alone after such a horrific accident.

How did you get off the hill and do you have any links to news reports on this accident? Not that I'm doubting you, it's just so odd to not have any news/neighborhood discussion of such an incident.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

Once I get insurance worked out I'm sure I'll be in another one.

Well yeah, that's the least you could do for the car that saved your life.

Did you take any photos that you can share?

I've drilled "don't swerve for animals" into so many people for so long (I'm a volunteer street medic) that when it happened to me, I T-boned a large buck (deer) on my road. And it's a good thing: there was a nasty-deep ditch where I would have gone, and I would have rolled for sure. Happily, this was pre-Tesla, so it was "only" $8,000 of body work.

 

[bmah]

OP, glad to hear you're OK. I drive Grizzly Peak Blvd. pretty much every day to and from work...that road sure makes you pay attention, especially at night or when it's foggy. Fortunately I've not encountered any deer up there.

Bruce.

 

[whttiger25]

This is a very interesting story. I lived in that area of Oakland and still subscribe to the neighborhood forum where incidents like this are always discussed. I saw no discussion of any cars going off Grizzly Peak lately and there is nothing in the news that I could find. Usually, a car going off that stretch of road would make the news simply because any recovery effort would require lots of police and fire presence and people would immediately start posting to the forum about the police activity. See, for example, this story from last year when a car went over the side (and note that the passengers survived, and they were not in a Tesla, so it's hard to argue that the Tesla said your life....)

Also, launching a car on the downslope side of grizzly peak and then having it tumble up to 200 ft down the hill would have left you precariously perched on a slope that would be difficult to climb up in the best of circumstances, let alone after such a horrific accident.

How did you get off the hill and do you have any links to news reports on this accident? Not that I'm doubting you, it's just so odd to not have any news/neighborhood discussion of such an incident.

To be totally honest, no one saw it happen. We climbed out and realized we were ok. Scrambled up the hill and met up with the grizzly peak trail which we took to the intersection of centennial and grizzly. We called the police but since there were no other parties involved, no Injuries, and no property damage, they basically just wrote up an incident report and we hopped in an uber. The car is still there. My insurance company is figuring out what to do about that, but it will be a Herculean effort to pull it up. I'll let everyone here know when that happens if thy are curious to see, and I will try to get some pics at that time.

 

[whttiger25]

Here is the precise location if anyone wants to check it out. I'm definitely not worried about someone stealing it you can access from the grizzly peak trail.

 

[SMAlset]

Glad to hear you guys are okay and relatively unharmed. Wow, what an experience. Oh and you had the titanium metallic body color, really liked that paint color and I see your car wasn't that old either, free supercharging too. So if you don't mind my asking what was it like hanging upside down in your car? That's an experience I hope never to have. We have the pano roof too and while driving in our car today with it open actually wondered if it overturned if you'd hit your head on it. Assume that the airbags all deployed? Glad the seat belts performed as intended. They do seem to strap you in pretty snuggly.

Well glad you lived to tell about it and look forward to your photos if you can get them. Also look forward to hearing what you pick out for your next vehicle.

 

[boaterva]

Wow and glad for the good outcome! I was looking forward to an 'AP applies brakes or wakes driver up to avoid animal'. Not what sounds like a trip taking off to meet JRTI. . Best of luck in getting things squared away. You both may want to be checked out by medical in the AM as things tend to take a while to possibly materialize.

 

[whttiger25]

Wow and glad for the good outcome! I was looking forward to an 'AP applies brakes or wakes driver up to avoid animal'. Not what sounds like a trip taking off to meet JRTI. . Best of luck in getting things squared away. You both may want to be checked out by medical in the AM as things tend to take a while to possibly materialize.

Thanks boaterva, I appreciate it. This actually happened Thursday night...got checked out Friday. My friend did as well, nothing more than bruises and sore muscles.

 

[whttiger25]

Glad to hear you guys are okay and relatively unharmed. Wow, what an experience. Oh and you had the titanium metallic body color, really liked that paint color and I see your car wasn't that old either, free supercharging too. So if you don't mind my asking what was it like hanging upside down in your car? That's an experience I hope never to have. We have the pano roof too and while driving in our car today with it open actually wondered if it overturned if you'd hit your head on it. Assume that the airbags all deployed? Glad the seat belts performed as intended. They do seem to strap you in pretty snuggly.

Well glad you lived to tell about it and look forward to your photos if you can get them. Also look forward to hearing what you pick out for your next vehicle.

Yeah I'm sad about losing that color. Been browsing cpo and inventory and don't see any out there now. I think I'll go with blue. Not sure on 60/75/90/100d at this point. May reevaluate what I need now that I have had a year with one. Don't feel like I need the speed anymore. I'm a bit price sensitive and not seeing any deals like my 90d last year. And 75d at 259 miles is very close to the 286 I had pre refresh 90d... but 335mi with 100d sounds amazing too. I think i have to see if I get a generous actual cash valuation from progressive.

I also had a reus audio system installed but didn't bother to get it covered

As far as hanging upside down.....I barely remember....it was very disorienting. I think my brain has erased some specifics