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Tesla head on collision with a Honda
- Thread starter mcskks
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
jeff_adams
Member
It's just one horrific accident, but the car performed as promised by Elon. Judging by the skid marks, it looks like the MS had enough control after the impact to steer out of the road and park against the guardrail. Usually cars "bounce" off of each other and you would expect to find the MS disabled in the road way. It looks like the car was drivable enough for it to be "parked" out of traffic and away from the impact scene. The hood was pushed up and the driver may not have been able to see out of the windshield after impact. That would explain why he headed over to the guardrail. It would have been a visual reference out the side window and allow him to get out of the way of a second accident.
One of the most dangerous things about a frontal impact in an ICE is the fact that the heavy motor can be pushed back through the firewall into the cabin. With the Tesla's "frunk", there is no danger of that.
I don't think so. If you look near the S, the guard rail is obviously damaged. I think it's far more likely that the crash caused the S to skid into the guard rail. If you consider the screen snaps from the video, that left front corner is pretty smashed in. No way that wheel could still steer. I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply crushed within the body work, therefore not turning and dragging the car off to the left until it hit the rail.
It does seem as if the car protected its driver very well, though.
>>One of the most dangerous things about a frontal impact in an ICE is the fact that the heavy motor can be pushed back through the firewall into the cabin. With the Tesla's "frunk", there is no danger of that.<<
Most of the newer car engines DROP when there's frontal impact to avoid that problem.
Several folks have speculated that the S was perhaps driving between the double yellow lines, but got to a point where that center divider went away, and that it therefore ended up in oncoming traffic.
Looking at the ABC 7 video that was linked earlier, I'm not convinced that's the case. Have a look at this frame. It looks to me as if the accident occurred where there was still a lot of space between the double lines. Perhaps we'll learn more once we learn the role of the reported third car.
Looking at the ABC 7 video that was linked earlier, I'm not convinced that's the case. Have a look at this frame. It looks to me as if the accident occurred where there was still a lot of space between the double lines. Perhaps we'll learn more once we learn the role of the reported third car.
mitch672
Active Member
This is all very very sad. Looks like this could be the first "totaled" Model S. I wonder if Tesla will buy it from the insurance company for further crash analysis of the body, and to see how the battery pack held up under such a violent crash.
The posted image suggests the Honda was thrown more or less 90 degrees out from the collision point, while the Model S skidded right, then left, and ended up in the guard rail.
This fits with the Honda being a significantly lighter vehicle, and it's fairly easy to se it must have been a very violent impact. The Honda seems to have gone from 50 mph (?) to 0 mph in no time at all while simultaneously rotating several times before coming to a rest. To do that damage the Model S must have been going quite fast. Also, there are no apparent skid marks before the point of collision from either vehicle, which suggests it happened quite suddenly.
Edit: Also, there is a gentle curve to the road, which suggests the Model S should have turned but went straight. This suggests the driver was distracted. Perhaps looking to the right at a Mercedes?
This fits with the Honda being a significantly lighter vehicle, and it's fairly easy to se it must have been a very violent impact. The Honda seems to have gone from 50 mph (?) to 0 mph in no time at all while simultaneously rotating several times before coming to a rest. To do that damage the Model S must have been going quite fast. Also, there are no apparent skid marks before the point of collision from either vehicle, which suggests it happened quite suddenly.
Edit: Also, there is a gentle curve to the road, which suggests the Model S should have turned but went straight. This suggests the driver was distracted. Perhaps looking to the right at a Mercedes?
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I get uneasy every time I comeback to read more about this tragic accident. I am guilty of taking off from the pole position at a light, but I always look left and right before moving, and then far down the road ahead, which I convinced myself was not that risky. I will temper my testosterone from now on, as I couldn't live with myself if i was partly the cause of something like this. God bless them all.
Mythbusters did a test on throwing a common soda cup (not a can) but typical drive-through fast-food soda container through a windshield at high speed.
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/soda-cup-killer-high-speed.htm
mknox
Well-Known Member
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
That's what I'm thinking too. Spouting out publicly is probably the worst thing the driver can do at this point.
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