Tesla Model X Knows How To Take A Hit (Video)

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Tesla is known for making the safest cars on the road, including with its Autopilot and active safety features. Sometimes, though, accidents simply cannot be avoided. You could be minding your own business when all hell comes crashing through your door and slamming you out of its way. This is literally what happened to the owner of a blue Tesla Model X as she waited at a red light.

A Nissan Sentra slammed into the rear quarter of the Model X (where the falcon-wing doors are) with such force that it moved pushed the car into the next lane and onto the grassy sidewalk. After slamming into the Tesla, the Sentra bounced and rolled over, landing back in an upright position. The accident happened in Pennsylvania and the dashcam footage from the car behind the Model X caught the dramatic (and surely traumatic) experience.

The Nissan skipped over a curb and a strip of grass before being propelled into the air and crashing into the Tesla. The good news is that CarScoops reports that the female Model X driver was said to have only minor injuries. However, it was fortunate that paramedics were able to quickly arrive at the site of the accident, as the driver of the Nissan was seen crawling through the windshield with cuts on his head. Fortunately, this accident didn’t take the lives of those involved.

It was noteworthy to some that the falcon-wing door on the side that took the brunt of the crash was able to open. The Model X received a perfect crash test rating back in 2019. The X, which Elon Musk called the Fabergé egg of cars during Tesla’s Q4 2018 earnings call, is the safest SUV ever made and the only one that the NHTSA has ever tested that didn’t roll over during the crash tests.

Some Good News From The NHTSA

New data from the NHTSA shows that an estimated 36,120 people died in car accident crashes in 2019. This was a drop of about 1.2%.

So far in 2020, even fewer people have died in car crashes. This is partly due to the coronavirus and lockdowns across the nation — many people who normally commute to work suddenly had to work from home or lost their jobs. Auto insurance companies noted fewer claims during the pandemic. Snapsheet’s chief operating officer, Andy Cohen, noted that he observed data from the 85 carriers that Snapseet works with and this reflects just how far down insurance claims are:

  • Personal vehicle claims: 40–50%
  • Commercial vehicle claims: 30–40%.

He even said that the March claim count may be the lowest in 50 years. He also noted that it was too soon to say whether the drop in the frequency of the claims will fully offset the rebates that many auto insurers have given to their customers. The estimated amount given in rebates is around $10.5 billion according to the Information Insurance Institute. Cohen also said that driving behavior has varied dramatically by region during this unique period of time. In Chicago, small carriers have seen decreases in claims volumes of up to 80%.

Car and Driver speculates that the drop in accidents from 2018 and 2019 could also be due to the many driver-assistance systems — such as automated emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and lane-centering technologies — that have been in newer cars  As we recently reported Tesla has seen 1 accident out of every 4,530,000 miles for drivers of its cars with Autopilot enabled, whereas the U.S. average is 1 accident out of every 479,000 miles. That is a major difference.

There are also many stories by Tesla owners of how Autopilot has saved their lives.

Just two weeks ago in Hawaii, Tesla’s Autopilot saved the life of a motorcyclist who crossed directly in front of the Tesla. Both drivers were spared from a head-on collision thanks to the Tesla owner’s 2020 Model 3 with Autopilot enabled. The driver shared his video on his YouTube channel, “Hawaii Tesla & Detailing,” and wrote this in the description:

“This event happened on a country road with the autopilot on. I was doing 35 mph and it appeared as if the motorcycle was going 35 mph or faster. The motorcycle entered my lane head on with very little distance between us. The Tesla autopilot alerted and began braking. The motorcycle had very few options. The Tesla braking gave the motorcycle time to swerve off the road. The motorcycle went off the road and had some rough nasty rodeside conditions to deal with before coming to a stop. Scary stuff. This could have been a bad day for all parties. I did see this from the start and was able to act as needed to the event. It happened real fast and the autopilot was a big part of the outcome.”

 


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Johnna Crider

Johnna owns less than one share of $TSLA currently and supports Tesla's mission. She also gardens, collects interesting minerals and can be found on TikTok

Johnna Crider has 1996 posts and counting. See all posts by Johnna Crider