A Seattle family was driving their Tesla Model 3 at 65 mph in the HOV lane on Interstate 90 on May 30 when a Camaro SS slammed into the rear of their car, sending it spinning across four lanes of traffic. It collided with the barrier on the right hand margin of the highway before slewing back across the road and slamming head on into the Jersey barrier. Here’s how the driver, whose screen name on the Tesla Motors Club is anatari, described what happened in a forum post:
Was cruising along the i-90 tunnel in Seattle, WA on mercer island with my wife and 2 kids, when I hear some vehicles approach at high speed from behind. Then suddenly I hear a screeching sound from a car braking hard, and then a car slams into my rear end – hard. I was going 65, so that vehicle must have been going significantly faster. From there I lose control of the car, and the car spins out of control, hitting the freeway divider wall all the way on the other side of the freeway 4 lanes across, and then bouncing back all the way back to the other side of the freeway and hitting that wall before coming to a stop.
Thankfully the Model 3 performed miraculously, crumple zones compressed, airbags deployed, no fire after the accident, and no one in my family seems to be seriously injured.
Still processing what just happened and getting all the facts from the police (there may be a criminal case against the person who hit me), but any tips and things to watch out for as I go through the insurance process?
Another driver, Paul Chang, added that he witnessed the accident, which was caused by the driver of the Camaro SS racing a BMW M3. The Camaro was disabled and came to a stop. The white M3 took off, Chang says. Apparently, the local police are considering criminal charges for the driver of the Camaro — and the BMW pilot, if they can identify him. Good. Both of these bozos deserve serious jail time.
How tough and safe is the Model 3? Ask this user who walked away from this accident #tesla #model3 https://t.co/enPAnZdEjC pic.twitter.com/bKw0pqIc2M
— Tesla Owners Online (@Model3Owners) May 29, 2018
The Model 3 did a superlative job of protecting the people inside. Elon Musk likes to brag about how safe the cars his company builds are and it looks like he has good reason to be proud. (Note: We also have an EV safety report coming soon that goes into detail about the safety of electric vehicles — good and bad.)
Anatari added in a subsequent post, “We’re really shaken up and really sore & some bruises, but otherwise we seem to be ok, thank goodness! It was a pretty intense accident, and the car held up well.” Anyone with experience in highway accidents knows the full extent of any injuries is often not known for several days to several weeks afterwards.
What happens now for anatari? He is going to have a hard time finding another new Model 3 to replace the car he was riding in. Perhaps Elon Musk will see this as an opportunity to score some good publicity by finding a car for anatari and his family.
Related Tesla Model 3 news:
IIHS: Tesla Model 3 Collision Avoidance Rating = “Superior.” What About Other Ratings?
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