Musings on crashing a Tesla

[My3sunz]

After 30 years of accident free driving, with not so much as a fender bender to my name, the winning streak finally ended in torrential rain on the 101 in la yesterday. Hitting standing water at 60mph I started a slide I couldn't control and ended up spinning rather gracefully sliding backwards and sideways into the sound wall. As we rushed towards the wall I felt very confident I would be protected by the car and that we would be ok. I just relaxed knowing there was nothing I could do but wait. The actual impact was not nearly as savage as I feared. I think we hit the rear corner first and somehow ended up perfectly parrallel to the wall just mm away. The whole drivers side was untouched, the wing mirror was literally 2 mm from the wall and undamaged.
First thing I noticed apart from the fact we were facing the wrong way in a freeway in driving rain (albeit on the hard shoulder) was the smell of burning from the explosive seatbelt pretensioners. No airbags were activated but the seatbelts kept me completely locked in place and no doubt saved a good deal of injury. My wife was in shock and had tried to shield her face from an airbag explosion, as a result her flailing arms somehow hit her head and gave her concussion, but serious injuries.

I called 911 and for once wasn't put on hold for 30 minutes. Soon after a good Samaritan stopped a big pick up behind us to give a bit of protection from on coming traffic.

The car computer was still running but parts started shutting down (I assume the explosive fuse went out). Very soon after a random tow truck with a very pushy driver tried to convince me to let him tow me on his flatbed. I firmly declined though it was a somewhat dangerous location. I called AAA and waited. Police arrived and tow truck driver kept trying to get me leave with him. I am sure he has no idea how to tow a Tesla. Paramedics came because my wife was kind of freaking out and in a lot of pain. Police were super helpful for once, tow truck driver left when police arrived. Another tow truck arrived and I told him to leave. Don't take the tow truck unless you call them! Finally highway patrol tow truck arrived. I had to decide whether to go with my wife to hospital or start with the car. I decided to get the car sorted and come back for the wife. It was a confusing situation though. Got towed in a standard tow truck (thankful for rear wheel drive only) off the freeway. AAA arrived an hour later. Fortunately I already knew of one official Tesla body shop that just happened to be 6.5 miles away(under my free tow limit of 7 miles). AAA sent a flatbed but the guy had no dolly for the car. He asked what I wanted to do and I said I was concerned about wrecking the car if we dragged it. I asked if he had towed Tesla before and he said he had. By then I had started to think more clearly and realised we had to get the car in tow mode but by then the car had completely shut down and was completely dead. AAA hooked up the 12v to open the trunk, then Jun ok started the 12 battery which eventually got the computer bag up and running so I could activate transport mode. This sets the car to be completely free rolling. At the body shop the computer had shut down but would but restart. I had left the driver window ajar but couldn't open the doors. No door would open which seems like a bad flaw. The manual release on the inside worked just fine but you have to be careful not to lock yourself out. We got the door open with a wire to manually open the driver door to retrieve items but never got the computer up and running again.

Sadly the car is almost certainly a write off despite surprisingly little external damage. The frame was bent by the impact.

Things I learned.

• After a crash open a window so you can open the door.
• Don't forget about opening the frunk to access 12v battery.
• Put your phone in battery saver mode!
• Don't trust random tow truck drivers unless it's a true emergency life and death type thing.
• If you know you will crash, relax as much as possible and let fate decide.

So now I wait for Geico to decide what my car was worth.

Sadly my car was a real unicorn. A rare model 3 with free supercharging for life was s brilliant perk that got me to 80,000 miles with very little money spent.
I could buy a new car but I am thinking an older one with things like the infused premium connectivity, entertainment and eap would be better. I don't care about the colour or how new it is.

One other thing to note for all Tesla owners, you can never check your tire tread often enough... Especially the drive wheels. You might be shocked how bad they can get very quickly which definitely doesn't help in wet conditions..

Anyone want to sell a 2018 with eap and lowish miles?

View attachment 873857
"File:Blue Tesla Model 3.jpg" by DatTr0waway (edited by Deepdeepocean) is marked with CC0 1.0.
(Image added by TMC Admin for purpose of the Blog)

So happy your wife and child are okay!! Like you at age 62 I was in a car crash -with my 13 month old Tesla MYP that I had paid off last month-when a twenty-something ran a red light and hit me broadside- my first crash- A witness estimated that the one that ran the light was doing 40 or 50mph. It took about 20 minutes to get me out of the car. With all the confusion I forgot about the hidden lever near the armrest. I just want to add that to your list. The first responders didn’t know how to get me out- hence the jaws of life. If the car was on fire I would have perished.

Also, I thought the cars call 911 or ask if I need help. Never happened for me.

Imagine my shock when my Tesla was totaled. Since we had already lost 10k on the car due to price cuts and now we have to worry about getting another one. The driver hit the door behind me and the actual wheel and drive train bent. Not my fault but I’m out my car and the money in the updates we did. We had wrap and ceramic coating and windows tinted about another $7500. And I’m waiting to find out if I need to go im for another neck surgery.

PLEASE- everyone be safe out there!!

 

[1100MCM]

It took about 20 minutes to get me out of the car. With all the confusion I forgot about the hidden lever near the armrest. I just want to add that to your list. The first responders didn’t know how to get me out- hence the jaws of life. If the car was on fire I would have perished.

Also, I thought the cars call 911 or ask if I need help. Never happened for me.

It’s incredible how your life can change in a split second. I can totally understand the confusion especially after a crash. When I was a kid in the 90s I was actually waiting in the passenger seat of a disabled car on the side of the freeway while my dad worked under the hood trying to get the car going. At some point I noticed a fire start under the hood. The flames shot up and that’s what caught my immediate attention. It’s been a bit of time since that event but I have such vivid memories of the adrenaline rush in that moment. It just felt like I had superhuman power to get out of the vehicle in a split second, even with seatbelts, locks, or other obstructions. The freeway I was on the side of had a steep embankment on the passenger side of the vehicle and I remember literally jumping out of the car barefoot into the steep embankment and running through weeds and thorns in the dry brush away from the burning car. The adrenaline shielded me from feeling anything from the thorns and rocks along with shielding me from feeling the impact of a large jump down the embankment.

I guess the moral of the story is if your car was on fire, your adrenaline would kick in, and you’d FIND a way to get out. I don’t think you should worry about a situation like that unless you’re unconscious or some other extraordinary situation.