Model X Crash on US-101 (Mountain View, CA)

[SMAlset]

Thanks for fixing JoelC! Looking at your video at the 08:10:26 a.m. point. So about 1hr 30 min before his accident happened, the barrier hadn't been reset, looks fully collapsed even, as you can see quite a bit of the track and there were two orange cones set to the Rt 85 side and in front of it. So basically he hit a concrete wall.

I can also see watching the segment you posted that sun in your eyes can be a problem traveling SB on 101 in that direction. Think someone else mentioned this before.

 

[lemketron]

Here's the image at 8:10:26am yesterday morning from JoelC's video... so sad to think that if that barrier had been properly reset, this guy might have survived?

We still don't know why he hit the barrier in the first place, but it's pretty clear there wasn't anything in front of the concrete to absorb the impact besides the front of his car (and maybe those two cones). I sure hope there's something there next time (and every time) I drive by that spot from here on out.

 

[f-stop]

just another random observation - in this helicopter video posted earlier, is that the Model X's panoramic windshield lying intact on the ground, just behind the grey car? (visible at around 0:11sec and again ~ 0:36sec into the video) If so it must be pretty strong glass

 

[TEG]

20180323_080953_NF on Flickr

Video from my BlackVue yesterday at 8AM.
The barrier appears at the 30 second mark.
Does not look like it was reset.

Thank you for posting this. That seems to be proof that the smart cushion barrier was NOT reset before the crash, and the Model X basically ran straight into a solid / narrow hard barrier.

You can also see some "road cones" there that weren't in the earlier pictures. I wonder who put those there and why. Did we see those "road cones" in the "after crash" pictures?
It also looks like there may have been a fallen flat barricade sign in your video like someone had tried to make the hazard more obvious, but the sign fell over.

 

[timvracer]

I can't possibly imagine how any alert driver can hit that wall, especially with the collapsable section unavailable, head on SQUARE with no perceptible skid marks or avoidance of any kind from the videos/pictures I have seen.

I would put money on this being an Autopilot accident given that wide marked 'lane' that would indeed guide the car directly square into that barrier.

I drive that route EVERY DAY in my S, but I am always in the left lane (carpool lane to the flyover to 85), and I am 100% on autopilot at 80mph setting. It slows down for the curve, and takes the flyover just fine. I wonder if the X was in the right lane and then ended up in the middle somehow? In any case, I would have to assume this drive was not being attentive

Tragic either way, just horrible.

 

[mongo]

I wonder if the "smart cushion" is so narrow that the Model X crash beams straddle either side and so it may have "punched a hole right in the middle" of the X crash structure?

That would explain the damage to the top center battery module. Barrier punched through the front and vehicle deccelerated when the pack structure impacted.

Regarding the vehicle "flipping" in some reports, does anyone think it rolled in the air and landed on its tires? I wonder if only the rear end of the vehicle "flipped up" in the air after its forward motion stopped after hitting the barrier (whether or not it was reset properly), and then landed once again on the pavement.

It seems like it would hard for the X to do a full flip (end over end) and land to the side of the barrier without also denting the roof during rotation. It may have jumped the barrier after impact and gone airborne (possibly with a full or partial twist/roll) before landing.

A Model S/X would require more energy dissipation to stop at the same speed due to the extra weight of the vehicle (batteries). One has to wonder if these barriers are designed for heavier vehicles, or how they perform (even when properly reset) when a heavier vehicle hits them.

The energy absorber is supposed to be valved such that it applies the force needed to stop various mass vehicles (speed at displacement sensitive). Test mass is 5,000 pounds.

 

[TEG]

Another factor, as you can see from the latest dashcam video, is that the sun is somewhat "in your face" in the morning there.
It could be partially blinding both the driver and the autopilot cameras.

 

[Paul2017]

I live close and drove by about 30 min ago. Currently the barrier is in the same collapsed position. No one is repairing it now, even after this publicly seen accident.

Its so upsetting that there was a chance of the driver surviving if the barrier was in proper functional order.

 

[TEG]

These might be those same "road cones" we saw in the pre-crash Dashcam video:

Not sure if they found those on the scene when they got there, or they put some news ones out to mark the debris pile.

 

[TEG]

The dashcam video also shows that the 8:10AM traffic southbound there was moving at basically "full speed".
The non-carpool lanes did slow a bit, but the 2 southbound carpool lanes seemed to be flying along as fast as you were willing to go.

 

[TEG]

I recall that having sunlight shine into the front camera array has been known to make the autopilot work less well.

 

[TEG]

All that sun glare could make it hard for a person or camera+autopilot to make out any kind of warning chevrons on a barrier.

 

[tpoltron]

I live close and drove by about 30 min ago. Currently the barrier is in the same collapsed position. No one is repairing it now, even after this publicly seen accident.

After being crushed by an 2.5 ton MX at highway speed, I doubt that an already collapsed barrier can just be reset. I expect most of it needs replacement and Caltrans has a long to do list......

 

[robski]

I can't possibly imagine how any alert driver can hit that wall, especially with the collapsable section unavailable, head on SQUARE with no perceptible skid marks or avoidance of any kind from the videos/pictures I have seen.

SQUARE on for sure. The cars final stop is only 10 - 15ft from the start of the barrier.

 

[TEG]

Those "road cones" weren't even directly in front of the (non-functional) crash cushion. They were practically in the left carpool lane heading toward hwy 85.
I could see someone (or something) being half blinded by the sun in their face, and then noticing those cones and thinking "oh no this lane looks closed!", and swerving into that right "non-lane" with upcoming wall...

 

[Musterion]

I live close and drove by about 30 min ago. Currently the barrier is in the same collapsed position. No one is repairing it now, even after this publicly seen accident.

Its so upsetting that there was a chance of the driver surviving if the barrier was in proper functional order.

I can confirm that over 24 hours later the barrier is still compresssed and not reset. And when I drove by this morning there was a car (non Caltrans) dangerously parked right next to it with blinkers on in the “lane which is not a lane.”

 

[Robert831]

How hard would it be to add rumble strips in that triangular "lane" that precedes the concrete wall?

 

[Motorolabizz]

I can confirm that over 24 hours later the barrier is still compresssed and not reset. And when I drove by this morning there was a car (non Caltrans) dangerously parked right next to it with blinkers on in the “lane which is not a lane.”

As an engineer for MDOT there is no excuse for the barrier not to either be fixed or atleast traffic control devices better then "2 cones" within 24 hours if not immediately. Then again I work for an authority and we are way more proactive with this stuff.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

20180323_080953_NF on Flickr

Video from my BlackVue yesterday at 8AM.
The barrier appears at the 30 second mark.
Does not look like it was reset.

Wow, what an excellent and important discovery.

Two small orange cones instead of resetting the barrier?

Literally almost a half-dozen other crashes into the previous barriers in a span of a few years, and the exit wasn't redesigned?

What the heck was CalTrans doing all this time?!?

No vehicle would have survived that impact, and now there's a fatality and massive liability.

This does not look good for CalTrans, at all: it looks likes there's an avoidable fatality and CA taxpayers will have to pony up millions due to incompetence.

 

[SMAlset]

NBCBayArea site with video from witness who said he shot the video right after he and his friend helped pull the driver from the burning car.

Driver Dies Following Fiery Tesla Model X Crash on Hwy. 101

A bit longer view of the eyewitness portion I think on this site:

Video Emerges from Highway 101 Tesla Model X Crash | Torque News