Tesla model 3 accident with a Mack truck

[Iceman8]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share this with everyone.

This past Friday, my wife was involved in an accident with a Mack truck while on her way to work. She was going southbound on a road and then stopped at an intersection to yield to an ambulance that had its lights on which was entering the intersection from the West. There was a large Mack truck behind her that couldn't stop in time. The impact caused her to roll a good distance right through the intersection. She was fortunate enough to walk away from the incident as the accident could have been a lot worse.

The car had actually sent me a message saying that there was a failure with the car and that it would stop driving, and also got a call from Tesla's roadside assistance to find out what was going on. But there were a few anxious minutes between me getting that and my wife not picking up her phone.

Luckily enough, I had a USB connected to it, so I was able to few the dashcam footage after we got to gather our belongings from the car afterwards. You can view the footage here: https://youtu.be/83VZfsYsQJQ

The right and left cameras really do add a lot to the picture. It would have been nice to have a rear one too, but I guess that'll happen in an update down the road.

 

[I am 3LECTRIC]

Sorry to hear about the accident, but glad to hear that your wife is okay! Interesting to know that you'd get a notification about car failure through the Tesla app after a major accident

 

[dusdev]

Glad she walked away from the accident. Looks like a pretty forceful impact. Looks pretty much like a write-off to me The truck was definitely following too closely. Agreed the rear camera would have been nice also.

 

[Techniques]

Glad that your wife is ok, sucks to experience any accident like that. The model 3 protected very well in a crash like this it seems.

Looking at the footage it almost appears that the truck driver was either trying to beat the ambulance through the intersection or they were distracted, because they should have had enough time to stop.

Other observation: Reason why the truck was driving at a decent clip in the left lane....
Rear view dashcam footage would have been great in this case, "Hi Elon!".

Hope everything gets sorted out for you.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

Sorry for the unfortunate event. I hope she's okay.

Rule number 1 when dealing with emergency vehicles - pull over to the right if possible.

Looks like she slammed the brakes (2:25) on a tailgating truck driver. Murphy's law, be in the position for something to happen - it will happen.

 

[KG M3]

Luckily enough, I had a USB connected to it, so I was able to few the dashcam footage after we got to gather our belongings from the car afterwards. You can view the footage here: https://youtu.be/83VZfsYsQJQ
.

Glad to hear she is OK!

 

[03DSG]

Really glad she’s OK and no one else was in the intersection. She did the right thing by stopping for the ambulance. Awesome evidence for insurance and the police.

 

[Gerk]

Ouch, glad she is ok. I know that intersection! It almost looks like the truck didn't even try to slow down When driving something with that much momentum behind it they really shouldn't be following that close. I see that on the highway all the time, fully loaded big rig a couple of feet behind another vehicle when doing 60+ km/h and I always cringe. There's no way they will stop if the front driver has to stop suddenly.

Having been rear-ended a couple of years ago I know the pain In my incident it was someone who was texting and not paying attention to the road .. I stopped at a yellow light that was turning red, they didn't and rear ended me. They did $10k worth of damage to my vehicle (which also really hurt the resale value of it which is also something you don't get compensated for) but when it came to court they only got a $70 fine. I watched it all go down in the rear view mirror, she didn't even look up from her phone until after she pushed me through the intersection (narrowly missing a bus that was turning) and was actually yelling at me all angry because I didn't blow the red light and "made her wreck her car". It was pretty hard to swallow that I ended up having to take a day off work to testify for her to get a tiny fine and not even lose points on her license for it

 

[Lasairfion]

That lorry didn't even try to slow down. And while he was close there was a significant enough distance between him and your wife's car for him to have tried to stop. My guess is that he was completely distracted.

 

[Darscot]

That lorry didn't even try to slow down. And while he was close there was a significant enough distance between him and your wife's car for him to have tried to stop. My guess is that he was completely distracted.

It looks like its down hill, and trucks that big don't stop on a dime. Those trucks are always trying to maintain and control momentum. I think it's just a situation that there wasn't a lot he could do. Looks to me that the laws of physics are the cause of this one.

 

[mongo]

Looked to me like the truck didn't try to slow down. Given the short distance it took to stop after impact, it looks like it could have easily avoided the collision.

(could have swerved also...)

 

[EVSteve]

Dump trucks. It’s always the class B tri-axles.

I’m a truck driver (Class-A) His load cover is in the open position (bars on the sides angled forward) which makes me guess he was empty. This wasn’t a case of being to heavy and unable to stop. Watch the driver side fender cam in slow playback. The suspension never dips. I doubt he ever hit the brakes. Likely saw green at the next intersection and went back to his phone or spaced out.

If your wife has any pain whatsoever sue the hell out of this guy. Drivers like him put the rest of us at risk. Sticking him to a desk job may save someone’s life.

 

[MarcoRP]

I wonder what the truck driver was doing before the crash. Was he checking his phone or was he blasting some good-ol’ country music on his stereo? Did your wife slow down when she heard/saw the Ambulance or was it an immediate stop?

Here is the photo provided at the end of the YT video. That looks pretty totaled. Good luck and glad you are ok.

 

[mmccord]

They did $10k worth of damage to my vehicle (which also really hurt the resale value of it which is also something you don't get compensated for)

I did. Look up diminished value.

 

[Iceman8]

I wonder what the truck driver was doing before the crash. Was he checking his phone or was he blasting some good-ol’ country music on his stereo? Did your wife slow down when she heard/saw the Ambulance or was it an immediate stop?

Here is the photo provided at the end of the YT video. That looks pretty totaled. Good luck and glad you are ok.View attachment 392556

heh yeah, I agree with what others have said, it doesn't look like the driver hit the brakes until after hitting the car, you can see it slowing down quite hard from the left camera...so he must have been distracted...my money is on the good-ol' country music!

my wife told me that only the lights on the ambulance were on, so after she saw that and it approaching the intersection, she hit the brakes to yield for it.

I guess whoever was in the ambulance wasn't as 'critical' for them to turn on the siren? whatever the case, the truck should have left enough distance between him and her to stop for whatever reason.

From the photo, you can see that the rear bumper wasn't hit since the truck sits higher up, so we'll see what their appraisers say, but a lot of my co-workers have said that they've seen stuff classified as a 'total loss' for a lot less. We'll see.

 

[Zirak]

I did. Look up diminished value.

Not in Ontario, Canada, where OP resides unfortunately...

 

[ATC@LWSK]

Sorry to read this Iceman8, and glad your wife is ok. it must've been scary experience.

 

[Gerk]

I did. Look up diminished value.

Thanks, if it ever happens again I'll remember that.

 

[Gerk]

Dump trucks. It’s always the class B tri-axles.

I’m a truck driver (Class-A) His load cover is in the open position (bars on the sides angled forward) which makes me guess he was empty. This wasn’t a case of being to heavy and unable to stop. Watch the driver side fender cam in slow playback. The suspension never dips. I doubt he ever hit the brakes. Likely saw green at the next intersection and went back to his phone or spaced out.

If your wife has any pain whatsoever sue the hell out of this guy. Drivers like him put the rest of us at risk. Sticking him to a desk job may save someone’s life.

Well said and thanks for sharing that info. I commute daily and some of the stuff I see some of these guys do ... OMG. I've had some bad ones done to me as well. And they are truly a major risk on the road, as are people that drive any vehicles that don't understand the concept of inertia and mass and/or don't realize the damage that can happen when something that heavy is moving that fast ...

My previous vehicle was a smart fortwo. Nothing like having a fully loaded bus literally a foot off your rear bumper at 100km/h with their headlights almost right inside the back window. Of course it probably didn't help that if it wasn't for the window there you could reach out and touch the vehicles when they were that close.

 

[Stan K]

Sorry for what happened to your wife. She must be in pain right now. Once I was T-boned and it hurts. Now if the car is totaled what is going to happen with the rebate? It says that we have to keep the car for a year. If you have to return it that would suck.