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Tesla head on collision with a Honda
- Thread starter mcskks
- Start date
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
Tesla driver was/is Dr. Robert Pettis (ENT).
Apparently a Mercedes Benz was also "involved" and caused him to swerve into oncoming traffic.
Someone posted something about a coffee cup being thrown.
Its all a bunch of conjecture at this point....but it's good to get it all out there.... At least hearing these new pieces of info steers us away from the touchscreen being to blame.
Its possible this was a case of road rage gone bad....
(I hope they weren't racing...because at least daily I get some nice car speeding up to me wanting to race.....),
they are looking for this Mercedes driver...hopefully that'll shed some more facts....although if this is really all his fault then he's probably in hiding and may never be caught....
Apparently a Mercedes Benz was also "involved" and caused him to swerve into oncoming traffic.
Someone posted something about a coffee cup being thrown.
Its all a bunch of conjecture at this point....but it's good to get it all out there.... At least hearing these new pieces of info steers us away from the touchscreen being to blame.
Its possible this was a case of road rage gone bad....
(I hope they weren't racing...because at least daily I get some nice car speeding up to me wanting to race.....),
they are looking for this Mercedes driver...hopefully that'll shed some more facts....although if this is really all his fault then he's probably in hiding and may never be caught....
CyberDutchie
Active Member
deonb
Active Member
One comment I found, that seems to best explain the incident with the Mercedes:
"My boyfriend was driving this morning at the exact time and was right next to the person who caused this accident. He said he saw 2 guys racing each other and when the lane merged he said he saw the tesla veer into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting eachother when the lanw merged. He called the police department today and is now a wirness of what occured seconds before impact. We are so saddened of this and are hearts are with the 2 innocent men who were taken and with their families. May they rest in peace."
http://lagunabeach.patch.com/articles/two-die-in-laguna-canyon-crash
Coming up Laguna Canyon Road, the Tesla would have been on the left, Mercedes on the right. Tesla would have just passed the light for El Toro road. However, on the right of the Tesla from Laguna Canyon is a right-only lane:
19800 Laguna Canyon Road - Google Maps
So either:
a) The Mercedes was on the right-only lane of Laguna Canyon Rd, when the light turned green, he raced across the intersection, and wanted to pass the Tesla before the lanes started to merge, forcing the Tesla owner off to the center.
-or-
b) The Mercedes was coming from El Toro Rd, having just made the free right there, and accelerated when he hit Laguna Canyon Rd, and one car was trying to overtake the other one before the lane merge.
Ouch. Seems scenario a) is the most probable according to the witness. If that is the case, then fault lies with both the Tesla and the Merc. And if someone testifies to seeing them racing, then I can imagine there will be serious consequences. More than there have already been that is 
The Merc seems to be most at fault if it pushed the Tesla out of its lane, but I doubt the driver will ever turn up.
It could have happened to most of us, is what is scary.
The Merc seems to be most at fault if it pushed the Tesla out of its lane, but I doubt the driver will ever turn up.It could have happened to most of us, is what is scary.
Police looking for mystery car involved http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013...have-been-involved-in-oc-crash-that-killed-2/
The article mentions the car "owner's" name (doesn't mention the "driver"). for all we know, could have been the Doctor's wife or kid or friend or something.
Here is an old video I found where Tesla's CTO describes some of the crash safety features, e.g. the structural integrity of the front of the car. This thing's built like a tank. It's no wonder that the accord was sliced up and the other crash, where the old lady through the wall of a store, actually looked staged because the front of the car looked like it had little damage.
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If that's what really happened, but I don't know if the Mercedes driver can be held accountable for the crash. It's not like the Mercedes hit the Tesla which caused it to go into the other lane. (if it did, then that guy is in a whole other world of trouble, hit & run, etc). If not, it was still the Tesla that caused the crash. Regardless of any racing, the Tesla driver had the option of braking and letting the Mercedes driver in front. He chose not to, and this was the result. I would think the Mercedes driver *may* be held accountable to racing or reckless driving, but it falls down to a he said/she said situation with no police officer as witness and no video recording as proof. Racing can probably be proved for the Tesla driver. At which point the Tesla driver likely faces vehicular manslaughter charges, and both probably face racing/reckless driving charges. All must be proven. It's a shame. The whole thing probably happened within a time span of 5 seconds. Many lives ruined in this terrible incident due to one stupid act.
The article mentions the car "owner's" name (doesn't mention the "driver"). for all we know, could have been the Doctor's wife or kid or friend or something.
Here is an old video I found where Tesla's CTO describes some of the crash safety features, e.g. the structural integrity of the front of the car. This thing's built like a tank. It's no wonder that the accord was sliced up and the other crash, where the old lady through the wall of a store, actually looked staged because the front of the car looked like it had little damage.
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If that's what really happened, but I don't know if the Mercedes driver can be held accountable for the crash. It's not like the Mercedes hit the Tesla which caused it to go into the other lane. (if it did, then that guy is in a whole other world of trouble, hit & run, etc). If not, it was still the Tesla that caused the crash. Regardless of any racing, the Tesla driver had the option of braking and letting the Mercedes driver in front. He chose not to, and this was the result. I would think the Mercedes driver *may* be held accountable to racing or reckless driving, but it falls down to a he said/she said situation with no police officer as witness and no video recording as proof. Racing can probably be proved for the Tesla driver. At which point the Tesla driver likely faces vehicular manslaughter charges, and both probably face racing/reckless driving charges. All must be proven. It's a shame. The whole thing probably happened within a time span of 5 seconds. Many lives ruined in this terrible incident due to one stupid act.
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deonb
Active Member
Not necessarily. If it was scenario a), the Merc was the one who went straight from a right-only lane, and tried to cut-off the Tesla going on the straight-only lane. So would be the Merc's fault.
The Tesla driver may not even have been intending to race him - he wouldn't have expected the Merc in the lane to his right to be going straight in the first place, so what's the point.
It may just be that, as soon as the lights turned, the Tesla driver had a spirited launch (like we all do when from time to time, even when not racing), unaware of what the Merc on his right was about to do, and at the same time the Merc launched hard since he intended to overtake the family sedan on his left so he could get into the correct lane, unaware of what a Tesla was.
So this may not have been an intentional race, even if it appeared like one from the outside.
Either way, we're all speculating. But even if it didn't happen this way, it so easily could...
mikegre
Member
Police say preliminary information indicates that the Tesla was traveling north on Laguna Canyon Road when, for an unknown reason, it veered into oncoming traffic.
scottf200
Well-Known Member
That is not what this said tho.
http://ktla.com/2013/04/03/2-killed-in-head-on-crash-in-laguna-beach/#axzz2PPMBPRgq
kinddog
Banned
Sure sounds like the Tesla was racing. He might not have initiated it, but it's very simple to just stop and let the other guy win rather than be forced out of your lane. Who knows what really happened, but I can certainly see myself making the bad choice to take the bait and flooring it when the Mercedes tries to zoom in front of me from the wrong lane.
Well, actually you both are right.
We have the statement from he driver. And, the police don't know for a fact what happened.
The will be looking to get the 3rd vehicle driver's statement and hopefully will do some accident reconstruction.
kevincwelch
Active Member
I have no basis for this opinion, but that ENT physician is fairly young and behind the wheel of a very powerful car. I would not be shocked if he were in fact racing this supposed Mercedes.
It brings to mind our other thread about people posting about their speeding tickets and showing pictures of police officers in their HD back-up cams. I find it all pretty distasteful. I've taken care of a lot of automobile accident victims over the years, and I've had to repair a lot of facial fractures. People get really messed up whether they are at fault or not. Racing. Gunning it for thrill. Posting pictures of speeding ticket encounters. I think it's stupid.
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Yes, there's usually a law (certainly is in Maine) that a driver is required to avoid accidents, irrespective of whatever dangerous stuff some second-child is doing near you. You block a merge without reason, you're at fault. You brake-check a tailgater and they hit you, you're at fault. A pedestrian walking obliviously into the road directly in front of you doesn't give you the right to GTA them. Etc, etc.
However, that doesn't mean the other isn't also held accountable.
smorgasbord
Active Member
Happened to my brother. It's true, he was tailgating and someone brake-checked him. The other guy told it exactly like it was to the police, received tickets, and his insurance would not pay for any of the damage to both cars because they considered it to be purposeful and he had to pay damages for both cars out of pocket.
Peter
Peter
Sounds like the person had a horrible lawyer then. As far as I know, if you hit your brakes, intentional or not, and someone hits you from behind, it's totally their fault since they were not following at proper distances. If a dog runs in front of your car and you hit your brakes to stop and someone hits you from behind, it's totally their fault, not yours. A brake check is no different.
Just to be clear, brake-checking is deliberate harsh braking.
Gentle braking is OK and is the suggested action to encourage tailgaters to pass. Usually that works, although I've had some guy in a VW persistently tailgate me down to 25mph in a 55 zone.
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