So... this happened. Just wanted to vent [vehicle accident]

[fredjan]

I was driving on the left hand lane (since I was just about to turn left), and a driver was pulling out of the nearby gas station but did not stop. The driver hit my vehicle's driver's side door head-on.

Unfortunately, I don't have any sentry footage to share. I couldn't get into my vehicle for a few hours, as "driver's side door mode" didn't let me get into my car at all since the driver's side door was not working. Called Tesla customer service, and they couldn't disable that feature remotely.
"Unlatch door" from the app worked once I got my vehicle towed to the body shop. (I didn't try that before... should have tried on the spot). By the time I got into my vehicle, all dashcam footage had been overwritten. I forgot that you need to save the footage manually by honking.

Now I'm basically waiting for the adjuster to take a look at the damages. Hopefully the body shop in my area can start working on it soon. They don't have a backlog of Teslas at the moment.

Towing the vehicle was interesting. The AAA driver had to put some... wedges? under the rear tires to prevent them from spinning, since at the time we didn't know if we could get in the vehicle and put it in transport mode yet

No injuries to me that I know of. I am getting checked out in case, but the doctors think my soreness is from the seat belt. Hopefully they're right and I don't have any damage from this accident.

 

[ucmndd]

Unfortunately, I don't have any sentry footage to share.

Everybody should enable "save clip on honk" for dash cam. Tap the horn and it immediately saves a clip. So many stories of people losing footage from events like this...

 

[fredjan]

Everybody should enable "save clip on honk" for dash cam. Tap the horn and it immediately saves a clip. So many stories of people losing footage from events like this...

I have it enabled, but I forgot that you need to do that to save the clips

Edit: I talked to my insurance adjuster and let them know what happened. They basically said that the other driver is most likely at fault. Their vehicle was only damaged on the front bumper and RH front fender.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I have it enabled, but I forgot that you need to do that to save the clips

Edit: I talked to my insurance adjuster and let them know what happened. They basically said that the other driver is most likely at fault. Their vehicle was only damaged on the front bumper and RH front fender.

Unplug the drive and presuming your dashcam was working when the crash happened, you can recover it using a file recovery tool:

Dashcam in Auto

I got 2021.32.21 update. It has the "auto" mode for dashcam option which I thought is a good choice. I had an USB stick plugged into a usb slot of my Tesla 3 before, and it did record a lot of footage - so the car clearly didn't have a problem using the stick. Today I got in an accident when...

teslamotorsclub.com

Tesla uses standard MP4 files, so if the drive had enough free space not to be overwritten, it should be possible to easily recover deleted footage.

 

[fredjan]

Unplug the drive and presuming your dashcam was working when the crash happened, you can recover it using a file recovery tool:

Dashcam in Auto

I got 2021.32.21 update. It has the "auto" mode for dashcam option which I thought is a good choice. I had an USB stick plugged into a usb slot of my Tesla 3 before, and it did record a lot of footage - so the car clearly didn't have a problem using the stick. Today I got in an accident when...

teslamotorsclub.com

Tesla uses standard MP4 files, so if the drive had enough free space not to be overwritten, it should be possible to easily recover deleted footage.

I already dropped off my vehicle at the body shop, so I can't really go get it until I get a rental vehicle later next week

 

[fredjan]

Btw, just a quick follow up. The ER thought my injuries were not serious. I don't even have a seatbelt bruise. That is pretty crazy how the car did its job.

 

[T4M3]

sorry for the accident and glad you are safe

 

[Technokrat]

Glad that you are ok, i have pinned the dash cam icon on my display so whenever I come across a dashcam worth scenario, I just tap it so that its saved.

 

[fredjan]

When my vehicle is repaired, is there anything I need to look over?

Things like, 1) making sure the door mechanism locks and opens properly, like right before the accident, 2) making sure there is no excessive road noise due to poorly fitting replacement door, 3) alignment checked just to make sure that the low-speed T-bone (and tow?) didn't mess up anything there, 4) checking that the door unlatches from the app correctly, 5) check that the frame less window mechanism works as intended (lowers on entry, closes once I'm inside, and can open correctly via emergency latch), 6) in rain: check that water is not leaking into my vehicle

With an incident like this, is there any likelihood of frame damage? Will my car drive differently after being repaired?

 

[fredjan]

Unplug the drive and presuming your dashcam was working when the crash happened, you can recover it using a file recovery tool:

Dashcam in Auto

I got 2021.32.21 update. It has the "auto" mode for dashcam option which I thought is a good choice. I had an USB stick plugged into a usb slot of my Tesla 3 before, and it did record a lot of footage - so the car clearly didn't have a problem using the stick. Today I got in an accident when...

teslamotorsclub.com

Tesla uses standard MP4 files, so if the drive had enough free space not to be overwritten, it should be possible to easily recover deleted footage.

I wasn't able to recover the footage, since my USB was basically full. The earliest footage I could recover was from a couple hours after the accident.
If I had removed the USB from the vehicle, instead of letting it record all throughout the weekend, I could have recovered the footage. However, with how obvious it is as to who is at fault (basically a low-speed t-bone when I had the right of way), I'm pretty confident that this will end up being a not-at-fault collision.

An adjuster already went to take a look at my vehicle today. The shop should be able to begin working on it fairly soon, as early as next week. We don't expect parts to be backed up at the moment.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I wasn't able to recover the footage, since my USB was basically full. The earliest footage I could recover was from a couple hours after the accident.
If I had removed the USB from the vehicle, instead of letting it record all throughout the weekend, I could have recovered the footage. However, with how obvious it is as to who is at fault (basically a low-speed t-bone when I had the right of way), I'm pretty confident that this will end up being a not-at-fault collision.

An adjuster already went to take a look at my vehicle today. The shop should be able to begin working on it fairly soon, as early as next week. We don't expect parts to be backed up at the moment.

Note sometimes it loops back and the footage is not in order (and obviously if recovering footage, restore to a different drive to avoid overwriting data). But as per my test, the Tesla 128GB drive would hold about 13 hours of footage total (any Sentry or Saved clips counts towards that total, plus any other files), so if it was still recording over the weekend, it may have been overwritten.

I guess in your case fault is clear enough that you don't need the footage.

 

[afadeev]

I was driving on the left hand lane (since I was just about to turn left), and a driver was pulling out of the nearby gas station but did not stop. The driver hit my vehicle's driver's side door head-on.
Unfortunately, I don't have any sentry footage to share.

That does not matter.
We don't need to see it, and neither does the insurance adjuster.
It's brain-dead obvious what happened from the damage. Insurance companies and police departments have gotten really good at deciphering accident causes from damage and location for 100+ years by now.

Don't obsess over the stupid dash cam. It's irrelevant in your situation.

With an incident like this, is there any likelihood of frame damage? Will my car drive differently after being repaired?

These questions are best directed at the body shop that will be doing the repairs.
From your pics, it did not seam like it was a very slow-speed low-gFroce impact. Yet you went to an ER? So who knows? - The people fixing your car!
Their incentive are aligned with yours - find and fix as many things as they can.
Talk to them!

a

 

[fredjan]

I'm being accused of being at fault, and the police report supports that... they're claiming same direction sideswipe, that I failed to yield

 

[afadeev]

I'm being accused of being at fault, and the police report supports that... they're claiming same direction sideswipe, that I failed to yield

The police diagram illustrates a totally different situation that what you had described in your earlier post.
Looks like you were merging from a secondary road with a posted "yield" sign towards vehicles on the primary road. Thus it was your responsibility to yield: slow down and yield the right of way to all other vehicles and pedestrians on the primary road. Regardless of how they got there.

That's a totally different situation from what you described as: "a driver was pulling out of the nearby gas station but did not stop".
Frankly, police diagram makes way more sense than your story, since the pictures show damage consistent with a slight glancing blow, and not a T-bone accident.

Assuming you are the blue car in the police diagram, you should have slowed down and yielded. And if you didn't, it's on you.
Yield sign changes EVERYTHING.

a

 

[fredjan]

The police diagram illustrates a totally different situation that what you had described in your earlier post.
Looks like you were merging from a secondary road with a posted "yield" sign towards vehicles on the primary road. Thus it was your responsibility to yield to slow down and yield the right of way to all other vehicles and pedestrians on the primary road. Regardless of how they go there.

That's a totally different situation from what you claimed as: "a driver was pulling out of the nearby gas station but did not stop".
Frankly, police diagram makes way more sense than your story, since the pictures show damage consistent with a slight glancing blow, and not a T-bone accident.

Assuming you are the blue car in the police diagram, you should have slowed down and yielded. And if you didn't, it's on you.
Yield sign changes EVERYTHING.

a

Ok... so what happens from here? Big insurance rate increases?

 

[afadeev]

Ok... so what happens from here? Big insurance rate increases?

Not necessarily.
Depending on your driving history (no tickets, violations, or other at-fault accidents), your rates will likely stay the same.
Your primary objective right now it to have the car repaired, which is easier said than done with Teslas. Even something as simple as door replacement may become a 2-4 months project if the body shop of your choice is not on the Tesla-approved parts distributor list. In which case, they will have to orders parts, one at a time, through the dealer/service center. One. Piece. At. A. Time.

Best of luck with the repairs!

 

[fredjan]

Not necessarily.
Depending on your driving history (no tickets, violations, or other at-fault accidents), your rates will likely stay the same.
Your primary objective right now it to have the car repaired, which is easier said than done with Teslas. Even something as simple as door replacement may become a 2-4 months project if the body shop of your choice is not on the Tesla-approved parts distributor list. In which case, they will have to orders parts, one at a time, through the dealer/service center. One. Piece. At. A. Time.

Best of luck with the repairs!

I already took ot to the shop, and now the shop just needs to get approval from my insurance to start on repairs. They said repairs wouldn't take long, but they do need to order a bunch of parts.

 

[fredjan]

Not necessarily.
Depending on your driving history (no tickets, violations, or other at-fault accidents), your rates will likely stay the same.
Your primary objective right now it to have the car repaired, which is easier said than done with Teslas. Even something as simple as door replacement may become a 2-4 months project if the body shop of your choice is not on the Tesla-approved parts distributor list. In which case, they will have to orders parts, one at a time, through the dealer/service center. One. Piece. At. A. Time.

Best of luck with the repairs!

My car insurance's safe driving app shows that I was *not* driving on the road that yields to traffic in the drive that led to the accident. So I don't think the police report can be trusted. I could not think clearly at the time the accident occurred. I've passed on that info to my insurance. Out of curiosity, I drove along both streets today (they're very close to one another), and I confirmed that the app does not confuse one for the other.
The main road is... the main road, and that is generally what I take to return to my apartment when traffic is not heavy. The accident occurred in the afternoon on a Friday. Traffic was light, and navigation led me to the main road.

So.... I still think the other guy is lying. At the time of the incident, he claimed that I was driving on the far right lane (i.e. the street that yields to traffic on the main street), which is not true. The app shows otherwise.

I returned to the scene of the accident and noticed some businesses with security cameras. Hopefully they caught something about the accident. I don't expect much to come out of that, but at least I need to see the truth if I actually messed up.

 

[stopcrazypp]

My car insurance's safe driving app shows that I was *not* driving on the road that yields to traffic in the drive that led to the accident. So I don't think the police report can be trusted. I could not think clearly at the time the accident occurred. I've passed on that info to my insurance. Out of curiosity, I drove along both streets today (they're very close to one another), and I confirmed that the app does not confuse one for the other.
The main road is... the main road, and that is generally what I take to return to my apartment when traffic is not heavy. The accident occurred in the afternoon on a Friday. Traffic was light, and navigation led me to the main road.

So.... I still think the other guy is lying. At the time of the incident, he claimed that I was driving on the far right lane (i.e. the street that yields to traffic on the main street), which is not true. The app shows otherwise.

I returned to the scene of the accident and noticed some businesses with security cameras. Hopefully they caught something about the accident. I don't expect much to come out of that, but at least I need to see the truth if I actually messed up.

If you need to get footage from business security cameras, then get them ASAP. A lot of them only have enough storage for about 1 week of footage.

 

[fredjan]

If you need to get footage from business security cameras, then get them ASAP. A lot of them only have enough storage for about 1 week of footage.

Yes, I'm going to one tomorrow, and one on Thursday. That can't wait.