Safest Car

[Thejulman]

Back in August I was the happiest guy in the world because I finally got my Model 3. It is a dream car and I loved it every time I drove it. Fast forward to 2 months, I’m driving to work and some city employee neglected to paint a limitation line on the road next to a stop sign. The stop sign was also obscured by trees. Sadly I crashed the car into another car in an unavoidable accident. First time ever being in a big accident where the airbags went off. Thankfully nobody was hurt. It was a sad day. Now my M3 is in the shop for a month. I must say this car is incredibly safe. Air bag in steering wheel and the knee air bag below went off and I barely felt anything despite the seriousness of the crash. Has anyone else experienced a crash with their M3?

 

[Az_Rael]

I am going to reserve judgement until we see the EuroCAP and IIHS ratings. They sometimes find issues that the NHTSA doesn’t test for, for example the Model S did not do well on the small overlap test initially. I think the Model 3 is a very safe car, and if it manages to get top ratings at all the agencies, then I will agree that it can be called the “safest”.

Teslas are very safe cars. I was in a major accident at highway speeds in my Model S, and did not suffer any lasting injuries (only short term soft tissue). The guy that hit me was in a 2002 Mercedes 2 door coupe and also did not suffer any major injuries.

Here is what I walked away from:

I was lucky I was in an S, and the other guy was lucky he was in a Mercedes.

 

[SMAlset]

Sure beats having an engine in your lap! Glad you were ok thejulman. How fast do you think you were going at the time of impact? After seeing your photo, would also love to find out the repair costs. I'm very glad to see Model 3 doing so well in it's crash testing. I know the MS is a great car but when ordering a smaller vehicle was a bit concerned how that would play out in accidents. I thought a smaller car would be easier to park around town and hopefully make it less likely to get door dings but didn't want to sacrifice safety over the MS for it.

 

[Thejulman]

Here is what I walked away from: View attachment 347792

Wow! That is a serious wreck. Glad you walked away from the accident. Very lucky the Model S held together the way it did.

 

[Thejulman]

"How fast do you think you were going at the time of impact?"

Thanks. I was going about 35mph but because of the nature of the accident (no visible stop signs or lines) I had almost no time to brake. Straight impact to the other car. Damage doesn't look nearly as bad as the impact was which is why I am posting how safe the M3 really is. I was lucky to be in the M3 during this unfortunate accident. The thing that upsets me the most is I was probably days away from receiving the Version 9 software which would have allowed me to record the accident from the front camera. That footage would have been great to have. Crappy timing.

 

[Thejulman]

"How fast do you think you were going at the time of impact?"

Thanks. I was going about 35mph but because of the nature of the accident (no visible stop signs or lines) I had almost no time to brake. Straight impact to the other car. Damage doesn't look nearly as bad as the impact was which is why I am posting how safe the M3 really is. I was lucky to be in the M3 during this unfortunate accident. The thing that upsets me the most is I was probably days away from receiving the Version 9 software which would have allowed me to record the accident from the front camera. That footage would have been great to have. Crappy timing.

Also the repair cost is still being worked out but estimate so far is about 16k to fix the whole front of the car with authentic Tesla parts.

 

[Vitold]

It is safest in vehicles weighting same or less. If you take weight into consideration that’s safest is model X.

I’m anycase, model 3 safety cannot be overstated and it will get even better with autopilot updates.