6 ms·

Tesla's Door Handles Blamed for Broward Doctor's Death

11 points by camjohnson26 4y ago

uejfiweun 4y ago
See, this is why I just can't bring myself to buy a Tesla. Not until they suck it up and start copying time-tested designs that other car manufacturers have arrived at over a century long process of trial and error. What happens if the fancy screen crashes while I'm on the highway? What happens if the door handles fail like this case? What if I have to make a split second reaction and turn the car, and I fail to grab the yoke steering wheel? I'm sure that the followers of Tesla have an answer to each of these questions, but stories like this undermine the narrative. I'm a big fan of Musk, I'm rooting for Tesla, I think they've had an enormously positive impact on the world, but I don't want to spend tens of thousands of dollars to gamble my life as a beta tester.
- db48x 4y ago
  That seems like a silly reaction. 40k people die in car crashes in the US every year, and you’re scared by the one death that is an edge case? Would you have been less scared if he had been killed in the impact, and the door handles hadn’t mattered? I agree that car safety systems should be better, but in this case it seems like they did the job. They kept this guy alive long enough to be killed by the aftermath of the crash, rather than the crash itself. Driving in a car is always a gamble, no matter who makes the car. There is no beta testing here, _you are in a car_. I also feel compelled to point out that if the fancy screen crashes, then you can either keep driving and navigate using your phone, or you can park and try to reboot or troubleshoot it. The computer that runs the screen is separate from the one that controls the motor(s). Also, isn’t the yoke an option on just one of the four Tesla models? You can just avoid buying that one if you don’t like it :) FWIW, I don’t own a car. I don’t commute, so when mine was stolen a few years back I simply put off replacing it until I really needed one.

11 points by camjohnson26 4y ago

See, this is why I just can't bring myself to buy a Tesla. Not until they suck it up and start copying time-tested designs that other car manufacturers have arrived at over a century long process of trial and error. What happens if the fancy screen crashes while I'm on the highway? What happens if the door handles fail like this case? What if I have to make a split second reaction and turn the car, and I fail to grab the yoke steering wheel? I'm sure that the followers of Tesla have an answer to each of these questions, but stories like this undermine the narrative. I'm a big fan of Musk, I'm rooting for Tesla, I think they've had an enormously positive impact on the world, but I don't want to spend tens of thousands of dollars to gamble my life as a beta tester.

db48x 4y ago
That seems like a silly reaction. 40k people die in car crashes in the US every year, and you’re scared by the one death that is an edge case? Would you have been less scared if he had been killed in the impact, and the door handles hadn’t mattered? I agree that car safety systems should be better, but in this case it seems like they did the job. They kept this guy alive long enough to be killed by the aftermath of the crash, rather than the crash itself. Driving in a car is always a gamble, no matter who makes the car. There is no beta testing here, _you are in a car_. I also feel compelled to point out that if the fancy screen crashes, then you can either keep driving and navigate using your phone, or you can park and try to reboot or troubleshoot it. The computer that runs the screen is separate from the one that controls the motor(s). Also, isn’t the yoke an option on just one of the four Tesla models? You can just avoid buying that one if you don’t like it :) FWIW, I don’t own a car. I don’t commute, so when mine was stolen a few years back I simply put off replacing it until I really needed one.