Two rear-ends in two weeks

[Cowpring]

I've been driving since 2005, not once has anyone ever driven into the back of me. I've owned a range of cars - VW Golf GT, GTI, Renault Scenic, Renault Clio etc.

Since owning my SR+, I've had two people drive into the back of me. Both were within the last few weeks, one today with my three kids in the car. Maybe unlucky, maybe I'm being paranoid but I swear people drive more aggressively around me in the Tesla. On my way home tonight I had to brake sharply to avoid some moron crashing into me while he was cutting in front of my path and undertaking.

Neither collision caused any visual damage at all (not even a scuff).

The guy today said

"Sorry man. I really need to get my brakes fixed"

To which I said:

"You just need to look where you're going"

Both incidents were recorded on TeslaCam. The one today I will probably report to the insurer as notification.

In terms of checking for interior damage behind the bumper - best to book a Service Center appointment for this? Anyone else had a similar issue?

 

[Rooster6655]

I think you might be right in the aggressive driving things, I find going slow and letting the fools have their moment usually gets them to back off a bit or hopefully overtake to get out of the way.

 

[Maz0]

The one today I will probably report to the insurer as notification.

Why, if there is no damage requiring repair? That will require you to list it when renewing for the next 5 years and most likely cause an increase in premium....

 

[Cowpring]

Why, if there is no damage requiring repair? That will require you to list it when renewing for the next 5 years and most likely cause an increase in premium....

It's a requirement of most insurance policies that you report any accident no matter how trivial.

Pretty sure they can invalidate your policy if you don't report an incident and they find out later you were involved in one. or if the earlier incident has an ongoing factor in a later one (i.e. there was damage from the first un-reported incident, which then was a factor in a major accident you had later. Them being able to prove this is another matter I guess).

 

[oneonorder]

just because there is no visual damage it doesnt mean that any compressible material under the bumper hasn’t been damaged.

plus reporting gets a mark on the insurance of the twat that drove into your back.

 

[Krokkodillo]

just because there is no visual damage it doesnt mean that any compressible material under the bumper hasn’t been damaged.

plus reporting gets a mark on the insurance of the twat that drove into your back.

I agree, usually the force of impact might not be seen from outside, but from experience I know it can create havoc especially on metal mounting points and plastic fittings.

 

[Rooster6655]

I've been driving since 2005, not once has anyone ever driven into the back of me. I've owned a range of cars - VW Golf GT, GTI, Renault Scenic, Renault Clio etc.

Since owning my SR+, I've had two people drive into the back of me. Both were within the last few weeks, one today with my three kids in the car. Maybe unlucky, maybe I'm being paranoid but I swear people drive more aggressively around me in the Tesla. On my way home tonight I had to brake sharply to avoid some moron crashing into me while he was cutting in front of my path and undertaking.

Neither collision caused any visual damage at all (not even a scuff).

The guy today said

"Sorry man. I really need to get my brakes fixed"

To which I said:

"You just need to look where you're going"

Both incidents were recorded on TeslaCam. The one today I will probably report to the insurer as notification.

In terms of checking for interior damage behind the bumper - best to book a Service Center appointment for this? Anyone else had a similar issue?

I came across another possibility that may have contributed to your issue.

Tesla currently use digital brake lights now I read that whether your braking softly or hard braking the light is the same, this obviously needs to be confirmed

See this tweet that Elon agreed with
Cliff Bleszinski on Twitter

"It drives me nuts and it makes no sense. If you slam on the brakes people can't tell. If you tap them, they assume the same. "

 

[Cowpring]

I came across another possibility that may have contributed to your issue.

Tesla currently use digital brake lights now I read that whether your braking softly or hard braking the light is the same, this obviously needs to be confirmed

See this tweet that Elon agreed with
Cliff Bleszinski on Twitter

"It drives me nuts and it makes no sense. If you slam on the brakes people can't tell. If you tap them, they assume the same. "

Isn't that the same with normal brake lights tho? Don't they just have either on or off, no matter how hard you press the brake pedal?

I think both drivers in my instance were just not concentrating, perhaps on their phones etc, as both times I was at a complete stop, in traffic, and came to a slow stop, it wasn't a harsh stop whatsoever, they just carried on driving into the back of me.

 

[Adopado]

Tesla currently use digital brake lights now I read that whether your braking softly or hard braking the light is the same, this obviously needs to be confirmed

That's how brake lights always work unless you mean the "modulation" effect of quick repeating flashing on/off under extreme braking.

 

[Banksy888]

I think you might be right in the aggressive driving things, I find going slow and letting the fools have their moment usually gets them to back off a bit or hopefully overtake to get out of the way.

Picture this. There was a car behind us with two people in the front. The passenger decided it would be a great idea to open the door and yell "Move!" at the top of his voice - even though we were standing in stationary traffic. Seemingly riled by our failure to comply he then reached across to the steering wheel and started honking the horn (much to the obvious displeasure of the driver who was trying to make him stop.) For the next 1/4 of a mile or so he followed us doing that repeatedly, winding himself up even more and more. I decided he was probably mentally unstable so we ignored him... after checking the doors were locked! Eventually they went a different route and as he passed he glared at us as if he wanted to kill us!

Most bizarre and I've never seen anything like it. Is Tesla rage a thing?!

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Don't rule out the possibility there are just more bad and inattentive drivers on the roads during the Christmas period.

I've just come back from a trip taking in the M25 near the M40/M4/M3 and I've seen something like 8 rear-end collisions in 2 hours. One involved 4 cars and happened moments before I got there. Nobody hurt in any of them from what I saw, but it's chaos out there today and it always gets noticably worse during school holidays and Christmas especially.

 

[ThrustSSC]

Most bizarre and I've never seen anything like it. Is Tesla rage a thing?!

Jealousy has been a feature of the human condition for millennia... It's often more-pronounced in those who don't do so well - which generally means they can't afford a Tesla. Sorry if that sounds a bit elitist and insensitive, but it's just fact!

 

[Tony Hoyle]

There do seem to be more impatient drivers around this time of year. This last week or so I've seen more aggressive driving than I've seen in several months.

 

[zayn]

any pics op of your damage

 

[Cowpring]

any pics op of your damage

There’s no damage at all that I can see. The bumper just flexed on impact.

 

[Rooster6655]

Picture this. There was a car behind us with two people in the front. The passenger decided it would be a great idea to open the door and yell "Move!" at the top of his voice - even though we were standing in stationary traffic. Seemingly riled by our failure to comply he then reached across to the steering wheel and started honking the horn (much to the obvious displeasure of the driver who was trying to make him stop.) For the next 1/4 of a mile or so he followed us doing that repeatedly, winding himself up even more and more. I decided he was probably mentally unstable so we ignored him... after checking the doors were locked! Eventually they went a different route and as he passed he glared at us as if he wanted to kill us!

Most bizarre and I've never seen anything like it. Is Tesla rage a thing?!

Is this true or were you joking?

 

[Rooster6655]

That's how brake lights always work unless you mean the "modulation" effect of quick repeating flashing on/off under extreme braking.

what part are you referring to the fact that they turn one colour and don’t change for soft or hard braking?

This is not how all brake light have worked which is what the tweet was talking about and what Elon himself acknowledged.

There are lights that show brighter if the braking is harder

 

[Adopado]

There are lights that show brighter if the braking is harder

I wasn't aware of that. Only the flashing under hard braking.

 

[Lloyd]

I had a BMW M6 which had "progressive" brake lights. More segments lit up with harder braking. It would be fantastic seeing this on the Tesla line.

 

[Adopado]

I had a BMW M6 which had "progressive" brake lights. More segments lit up with harder braking. It would be fantastic seeing this on the Tesla line.

So if I was behind a vehicle in the dark and it braked ... and 3 segments lit up ... how would I know that was hard braking? Unless I know how many segments there are for hard braking ... perhaps 5 or 6 or only 3... or maybe another car only has 1 for the same braking! If I see fluttering brake lights I instantly know that the person is standing on the brakes ... I don't need to understand how many segments means hard braking.