While Tesla’s are the safest cars on the road, that doesn’t mean incompetent drivers can’t get behind the wheel. A perfect example of this is a recent Tesla Model 3 crash caught on a nearby building’s security camera.
The video shows a quiet street in a commercial area with a Toyota dealership in the background, when a black Tesla Model 3 enters the frame at a high rate of speed. According to Dexter Melling, who uploaded the crash to Youtube, the road curves to the left, but as you can see in the video, the driver of the Tesla missed the corner and kept going straight. The driver then hits the curb, launching the vehicle into the air, partly taking out a bush, before continuing on out of frame, apparently going through a yard, side swiping a parked vehicle, nosing into a ditch, and then bouncing onto a cross road. Fortunately no other vehicles, aside from the damage to the parked car, or people were involved in the crash.
Apparently the driver claimed he was on Autopilot at the time of crash. Due to the apparent high speed, which was likely much higher than the speed limit for that road, I’m not sure I’m buying that. Since it appears to be an undivided road, Autopilot would have only allowed the vehicle to travel at the speed limit, if it was available on the map for this particular stretch of road.
Towards the end of the video, you also see a Honda Civic and Dodge Challenger enter the frame, also at a fairly high rate of speed. It wouldn’t be surprising if the driver of the Model 3 was racing these vehicles, and maybe pushed his Model 3 a bit harder than his driving abilities allowed for.
What do you think? Was the Model 3 on Autopilot at the time of the crash? Check out the video below. Make sure you sound is on to hear the aftermath of the crash that happens out of frame.
