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New Tesla Fatality - Single Car Accident.

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Thank you, Dennis. As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and your post answers my questions to a sufficient degree.

Again, I'm very sorry for the family and their loss.
 
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Wasn't there a 3rd fatality where someone went off a cliff near Big Sur or some similar extremely high cliff? That is clearly not survivable. This culvert is surprisingly not deep. It's essentially a ditch. If I was to be driving down a road and imagine driving into this, I would never envision it causing serious bodily damage, especially with our enormous crumple zone. Then again, I ALWAYS wear my seat belt, even in a parking lot. Like chickensevil said above, this shows the incredible importance of wearing your seatbelt. Absolutely awful and a tragic, possible preventable loss.
 
I just want to chime in that I appreciate the sleuthing work and I didn't find anything in the thread distasteful at all. I drive a Roadster every day and my wife and 2 kids are in a Model S every day. As others stated I want to know how/why people can get hurt in them. All I read in this thread was a quest for facts which by definition cannot be judgmental or distasteful. We shouldn't be afraid to call things what they are.
 
I decided to visit the crash site today to help answer that question. The first photo below shows the intersection where the single car accident occurred. To the left of my car you see culvert where the police found the Model S and the memorial which marks the spot where it left the road. In the second photo you can get a sense of the depth of the culvert. Also notice the two freshly cut oak tree stumps between the memorial and the culvert, indicating the car may have hit a tree before landing in the culvert. Given the culvert, the tree and a report of no seat belt, the fatality is not surprising to me.

I hope the family can find some peace. Looking at the memorial the victim was loved by a lot of people.


ShannonampShortRds_zpsf815b85f.jpg

CrashMemorial_zpsa0edbd25.jpg

Thanks for that Dennis, it definitely clears some things up for me as well. Having been thrown from a quad a time or two, I can definitely see how this seemingly minor accident could have led to a fatality.

Condolences :(
 
My sympathies and condolences to the family as well.

Definitely emphasizes the "seat belts save lives" saying. :( Thanks for taking the time to post some photos. Perhaps, if it would be appropriate, some of us here could pitch in for an addition to the memorial?

(Somewhat off topic, but... I don't know how anyone can drive the Model S without a seat belt. I get irritated with the incessant pestering the car makes about it when just moving my car in a parking lot, let alone driving any real distance.... yet I hear people here on this forum mention not wearing seat belts all the time. How do non-seat-belt-wearing folks handle this? I would go crazy.)
 
Looking at that road, if coming from that same direction as indicated by your car, he must have completely missed the road veering to his left. No seat belt, and in a 30 mph zone. I would think that, at the very least, the Airbags should have deployed.
 
I just want to chime in that I appreciate the sleuthing work and I didn't find anything in the thread distasteful at all. I drive a Roadster every day and my wife and 2 kids are in a Model S every day. As others stated I want to know how/why people can get hurt in them. All I read in this thread was a quest for facts which by definition cannot be judgmental or distasteful. We shouldn't be afraid to call things what they are.

I was the original poster and took some slack from forum members. We are all driving a car that takes pride that it was rated the safest car ever tested. We have also all read the stat there had never been a fatality in the Model S. This changed when a car thief crashed the car into a building at 100mph. I believe the second fatality involved a very steep cliff. I assume many people in this forum were interested in the cause of those accidents and wanted to know if it was a Model S or not. I find it odd that several posters in this thread are so bothered by us wanting to know the circumstances surrounding this tragic accident. Would they rather sweep this under the rug and pretend the fatality in the car we drive everyday never happened?
 
Just a thought, but someone could temporarily remove their seatbelt while driving. Say you were too hot and tried to remove your coat while driving (bad idea). The same action of removing the seatbelt to remove a coat could lead to making a steering mistake that causes you to leave the road. Similar if you removed the seatbelt to reach into the back seat to get something. I have no idea what actually happened, but throwing out an idea of what might make more sense here.
 
Steering mistake... hmm... sounds like we could use that autopilot update. :)

Edit: To clarify, I was responding to @TEG regarding removing a coat... not really on topic here, where I guess it would sound bad... sorry :(
 
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Steering mistake... hmm... sounds like we could use that autopilot update. :)

now THAT might be a bit distateful...


as for seatbelts, i have folks who get in my car and i have to TELL them to put om their belt every dang time! incessant bonging aside, i just can't bring myself to not have my seatbelt on. it's habit. i feel exposed and uncomfortable without it.
 
as for seatbelts, i have folks who get in my car and i have to TELL them to put om their belt every dang time! incessant bonging aside, i just can't bring myself to not have my seatbelt on. it's habit. i feel exposed and uncomfortable without it.

Me too. I've been using them since before there were seatbelt laws. Actually, the laws ticked me off a bit because why should there be a law to do something I already do.
 
I would think that, at the very least, the Airbags should have deployed.
Warning: The following paragraph describes some of the physics of airbags and may be disturbing to some.

The airbags probably did deploy. Unfortunately, air bags are not designed to replace seat belts; they are to supplement lap and shoulder restraints to help limit head and chest injuries. The air bag initially inflates at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, and if a passenger or driver is not fully restrained they are likely to contact the air bag before it is fully inflated and may sustain serious or fatal injuries.

We should always remember to:
*Use both lap and shoulder belts on every drive. Always. No exceptions.
*Wear the lap belt under the abdomen and low across the hip. Never wear the lap belt above your hips.
*Keep the lap belt snug.
*Wear the shoulder belt portion down over the collar bone away from the neck and cross over the breast bone. Never position the shoulder belt so that it presses against your neck.
*Move your seat as far back as practical, especially drivers smaller in stature.
*Try to keep a 10 inch margin between the steering wheel and your breast bone. If you cannot keep a 10 inch margin, then try: Tilting the steering wheel downward--this will aim the air bag at your chest instead of your head and neck; Slightly reclining your seat back--this may help you achieve the 10 inch margin. If, however, reclining the seat back hinders your view of the road, raise your seat.
*Keep unsecured objects in the car to a minimum. All unsecured objects have the potential to be deadly missiles in a crash.


Just a thought, but someone could temporarily remove their seatbelt while driving. Say you were too hot and tried to remove your coat while driving (bad idea). The same action of removing the seatbelt to remove a coat could lead to making a steering mistake that causes you to leave the road. Similar if you removed the seatbelt to reach into the back seat to get something. I have no idea what actually happened, but throwing out an idea of what might make more sense here.
I think we all are guilty of doing unsafe driving practices occasionally. Let's remember that the seconds we save by not pulling to the side of the road and parking before **removing a coat, reading or answering a text, checking that we have what we need, restraining our child, or whatever we might do that interferes with the task of driving** is not worth the years of life we might lose.
 
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Don't some (maybe all) airbags deploy differently depending upon whether the seatbelt is fastened?
Some, yes. I don't know which cars do and which cars don't.

However, even if the airbag does deploy with less force if the seat belt is not used, momentum will throw your body into a very sub-optimal position. In other words, the car will stop. You will still be traveling at pre collision direction and speed.
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Furthermore, if the seat belt warning chime has been thwarted by sitting on the buckled seat belt or by attaching the passenger seat belt to the driver's seat belt buckle, then the airbag will deploy with maximum force.
 
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People do this? :(

That's kind of scary. :scared:

The Valets use that trick when loading the Model S into the trailer, because they have to lift their butt off the seat to look out the window and check alignment, and when they do that the car shuts down. If you trick the car into thinking you've got your seat belt on then it doesn't shut down.

You should never drive without your seat belt on. A fellow I respect and admire sadly died some years ago in a head on collision. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and died on impact. His wife was wearing hers and survived with serious injuries, but recovered.

It's not worth risking your life for a little extra comfort.
 
The Valets use that trick when loading the Model S into the trailer, because they have to lift their butt off the seat to look out the window and check alignment, and when they do that the car shuts down. If you trick the car into thinking you've got your seat belt on then it doesn't shut down.

You should never drive without your seat belt on. A fellow I respect and admire sadly died some years ago in a head on collision. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and died on impact. His wife was wearing hers and survived with serious injuries, but recovered.

It's not worth risking your life for a little extra comfort.

I don't even find seat belts uncomfortable... definitely would not go any real distance (like, more than a couple hundred feet in a parking lot or in my driveway or something) without clicking it... and usually do then too just out of habit.