Shot forward when parked [unintended acceleration - resolved by OP]

[HeatproofGenie]

Nice job not being too defensive OP and accepting the situation.

Real answer to avoid this is to just not use creep mode. I take it you are new to having an EV? Give yourself time to adapt to one pedal driving and I guarantee you too will be a convert.

 

[holmgang]

I would bet that it wasn’t actually in Park and your accelerator foot was still resting on the pedal. When you rotated to exit, you inadvertently pressed on the accelerator which sent you forward.

Maybe the most likely explanation. Belt was never buckled, e.g. just shuffling car around in the driveway. Car on hold mode so driver thinks car was Parked (when it was merely stopped). Driver opens door. Driver forgot to park and fumbled with the stalk , accidentally triggering AP/CC.

Seems more plausible than a stopped and parked car, with belt undone and door open, and THEN the car jumps forward by itself..

 

[cgell]

Also, I don’t understand the comments about me being a first time poster? Is that relevant? Does it invalidate my comments?

Your experience and comments are all valid no matter what the cause. Either way you were hurt and that is serious enough to figure out what caused it. Coming here is a good start. Sorry if any post including mine made you feel unwelcome or like we were invalidating your comments.

The reason for people mentioning the first time post is that unfortunately there are a lot of people who make up or exaggerate situations to knock Tesla. These are typically new members and they post and then leave. This doesn’t seem like that sort of situation.

Most likely this was human error IMO, but your feelings and comments are valid. Sometimes accidents happen and our assessment of the cause is incorrect because it happens so fast. That is what I would guess happened here.

 

[android04]

I posted the picture of my foot to prove that it was outside the car and not on the accelerator when the car moved forward. I am not upset with Tesla. I absolutely adore my car. I always had good cars, Mercedes, BMW. But nothing compares with this amazing car. It’s the best thing I’ve ever driven. Just don’t want to be making any more mistakes. Can’t understand what happened. I’ll be paying for the damage to be repaired myself. Not really that bothered about the small amount of damage.

Was most bothered about my very distressed grandson who when he could see that I was trapped climbed into the front seat and opened the passenger door to get out and go for his daddy who was inside the house. At that very moment I had brought my free foot across and gone into reverse. The car reversed off the drive as my grandson opened the door and he fell out.

So my next question is. Did the car automatically stop when he opened the door? I don’t remember if I slammed my foot on the brake? It was all just too fast and alarming. The car stopped I jumped out with a horrible vision of him under the wheel but he just got up and ran in to his daddy. We were all very shocked.

Lessons learned of course. But why did the car move forward in the first place when I believed it was in park?

I've never used Creep mode, but I remember reading in the manual that the car will completely stop (Tesla calls it Vehicle Hold, similar to a Hill Hode mode) if you press and hold on the brake pedal for a bit. You might have done so (especially if your driveway is on an incline) and the car was in Vehicle Hold mode. You might have thought that it was in Park instead when you went to get out.

Read about Stopping Mode here Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Read about Vehicle Hold here Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

You can access vehicle- and country-specific owner's manual here https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual

 

[cgell]

I've never used Creep mode, but I remember reading in the manual that the car will completely stop (Tesla calls it Vehicle Hold, similar to a Hill Hode mode) if you press and hold on the brake pedal for a bit. You might have done so (especially if your driveway is on an incline) and the car was in Vehicle Hold mode. You might have thought that it was in Park instead when you went to get out.

Read about Stopping Mode here Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Read about Vehicle Hold here Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

You can access vehicle- and country-specific owner's manual here https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual

If you hold the brake pedal it will stop the car regardless of mode. Once you let go it will roll if you’re in creep mode (unless you are on a hill). Hold is a different mode where the car will not move forward on its own without accelerator input from the driver. If you exit the car in drive it should shift to park automatically.

 

[RayK]

My guess is that the sensor which detects the driver's door is open was/is not working. That would explain why the car did not automatically go into Park mode, assuming that the OP is correct in saying it may not have been in Park already. Whether the car is in Creep or Roll mode, opening the door should put the vehicle in Park.

 

[cgell]

My guess is that the sensor which detects the driver's door is open was/is not working. That would explain why the car did not automatically go into Park mode, assuming that the OP is correct in saying it may not have been in Park already. Whether the car is in Creep or Roll mode, opening the door should put the vehicle in Park.

It could be a bad sensor, but the only case where it would not shift into park with the door open (or the car thinking it is open) is if you had your seatbelt on and had your weight on the seat. Opening the door while sitting buckled in will not cause it to go into park automatically. Two or more of the following must happen to shift into park automatically-

• The driver's seat belt is unbuckled.
• The occupancy sensor in the driver's seat does not detect an occupant.
• The driver's door is opened.

 

[RayK]

Ah, you may be right. I just did my test in the driveway but I did not buckle up.

 

[Carolespirit]

I've never used Creep mode, but I remember reading in the manual that the car will completely stop (Tesla calls it Vehicle Hold, similar to a Hill Hode mode) if you press and hold on the brake pedal for a bit. You might have done so (especially if your driveway is on an incline) and the car was in Vehicle Hold mode. You might have thought that it was in Park instead when you went to get out.

Read about Stopping Mode here Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Read about Vehicle Hold here Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

You can access vehicle- and country-specific owner's manual here https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual

You are absolutely right! I think that's exactly what I did! I have been carefully watching myself today when I stopped and have been deliberately stopping a lot in safe places. I now believe that I either didn't press park sufficiently well and failed to engage it, or I didn't actually press it at all. I think I stopped the car on the brake pedal, held it for a while and then just opened the door to get out. The car carried on in drive, as I always use creep. I also use easy entry, which takes quite a while to move my seat back and my steering wheel up to allow the space to exit comfortably. This only works when I'm in park, and I don't remember that happening, which seems to confirm that I just took my foot off the brake as I opened the door. A lesson learned! I will certainly not be in such a hurry, or so distracted again! I'm usually very entranced by my lovely car and very carefully noticing what I'm doing because it's such a delight to drive, but taking care of a chattering five year old can sometimes be stressful and a huge distraction. I can assure you it won't happen again! And my sweet grandson will NEVER open a car door from the inside again. We both learned a lot yesterday.

Thank you for your reply. x

 

[HeatproofGenie]

Good attitude! I encourage you to try driving in Hold mode.

 

[Lloyd]

Right foot bruise, the driver must be from the UK. That is a serious bruise. I would document everything. Lots of pictures, videos, of the other car, etc. Report it to your insurance. Report it to whatever automotive safety oversight agency there is in the UK, that might be able to come look over the scene while it's still fresh.

There is a Greenmount MD !

 

[oreobbq]

Glad you're ok. If the car wasn't in park, then it probably did creep forward. But if it shot forward, maybe your other foot brushed the accelerator pedal when you pivot to exit the vehicle? Just guessing.

 

[cgell]

There is a Greenmount MD !

OP already said they are from the UK

I’m in Greenmount in the Uk. Lancashire…

 

[Belt007]

The OP's incident with a Model 3 sounds similar to another incident with a Model S found at 3 Unintended Acceleration events when parking my Tesla S P in my garage. .

 

[Nozferat]

I’m in Greenmount in the Uk. Lancashire. I’m going to Tesla in Manchester Uk to show them the damage and ask them what they think happened. I’m also going to watch the recording and see if I can understand what happened. I’ve attached a photo of the damage to the front. There’s no damage to the door at all, and now that I’ve calmed down, I’m believing that I can’t have put it into park. Since I always have it on creep it must have just kept moving? The odd thing is that I wouldn’t have opened the door unless it had stopped. So why did it move when I was exiting the car?

It could happen if in creep mode, unbuckled, and your seat sensor for some reason didn't work. That leaves only one of three conditions that have to be met

 

[mangrove79]

Reading this thread is like reading Sherlock Holmes . Such a classic sequence of reasoning and deduction from those who replied, and they actually got pretty close to exactly what happened with the limited initial set of information. I felt like I was watching CSI with a crime-scene reconstruction. LOL. Great work! (Tesla owners definitely have the highest IQ)

 

[Nozferat]

Reading this thread is like reading Sherlock Holmes . Such a classic sequence of reasoning and deduction from those who replied, and they actually got pretty close to exactly what happened with the limited initial set of information. I felt like I was watching CSI with a crime-scene reconstruction. LOL. Great work! (Tesla owners definitely have the highest IQ)

Same thing happens in the BMW i3 forums

 

[Tronguy]

You are absolutely right! I think that's exactly what I did! I have been carefully watching myself today when I stopped and have been deliberately stopping a lot in safe places. I now believe that I either didn't press park sufficiently well and failed to engage it, or I didn't actually press it at all. I think I stopped the car on the brake pedal, held it for a while and then just opened the door to get out. The car carried on in drive, as I always use creep. I also use easy entry, which takes quite a while to move my seat back and my steering wheel up to allow the space to exit comfortably. This only works when I'm in park, and I don't remember that happening, which seems to confirm that I just took my foot off the brake as I opened the door. A lesson learned! I will certainly not be in such a hurry, or so distracted again! I'm usually very entranced by my lovely car and very carefully noticing what I'm doing because it's such a delight to drive, but taking care of a chattering five year old can sometimes be stressful and a huge distraction. I can assure you it won't happen again! And my sweet grandson will NEVER open a car door from the inside again. We both learned a lot yesterday.

Thank you for your reply. x

@Carolespirit: Thanks for coming back with an answer. I, for one, appreciate it.

So, at the moment, it appears that the car didn't have something, well, broken about it, which is a good thing.

But, I have a thought: As it happens, my S.O. is a human factors engineer. These are the kind of people, usually Industrial Engineers, but sometimes have majors in Psychology, who worry about man-machine interfaces and how to make them work well, preferably without danger to life and limb. As an example, one of their early claims to fame were forcing airplane manufacturers of all stripes to put the various cockpit controls in the same places, with the same directions to make something happen. (There were cases of of a pilot moving from one plane to another, something exciting would come up, and said pilot would make a move, without thinking (muscle memory) and auger the airplane into the ground.)
So, a HF engineer would ask, "OK, we had an accident. How can we change things so such an accident isn't possible?"

So, let's see what happened:

1. Creep mode enabled.
2. Missed hitting the Park button.
3. Held down the brake a bit, then started to get out, thinking that the car wouldn't move.
4. Car moved, accident. Um. Weight still on the seat?

OK. So, say we got access to all the sensors, all the time. What, if anything, could we do with the sensor outputs that would detect a case of 1-2-3, but would prevent 4?
For extra credit: Show that 1, 2, 3, as currently implemented, allows some behavior that we do want, and that the proposed change either (a) doesn't change the behavior that we want or (b) there's a determination that that behavior that's wanted, isn't a behavior that'll be missed..

Let's see. Weight on the seat. Seat belt open/closed. Door open or closed. Speed of car? In-car camera view? Any others?

 

[Carolespirit]

From the Tesla manual:
View attachment 770031
and:
View attachment 770033

If the OP for some reason had the seatbelt still buckled and was in the seat when they opened the door, it doesn't go into park. I've done this exact thing on purpose when I want to move a car with the door open. There's also the edge case that the car was not actually at 0 MPH when other things happened. This is all speculation and why EDR's are so useful, and people's memory of complex and stressful events like this can be pretty flawed.

Yes, I agree. My memory of these stressful events are flawed. I looked at the memory stick from the glove compartment today. Was very keen to watch what happened. Unfortunately there was only lots of videos of my journeys today. Didn’t realise it overwrites every day? Very disappointed.

 

[Carolespirit]

Same thing happens in the BMW i3 forums

Yes. Thankyou guys for all your thoughtful replies. Very kind of you and very interesting. Am taking my friend (a devoted Tesla owner) to a huge empty B&Q car park on Sunday and he’s going to open the passenger door as I hit the reverse drive pedal. I want to see if the car stopped itself or I did when my grandson opened the door!