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I guess the discussion would revolve around self driving but IMHO the issue here is the lack of rear underride guard[0] of the truck. Safety systems like automa
by mrtksn 4y ago
I guess the discussion would revolve around self driving but IMHO the issue here is the lack of rear underride guard[0] of the truck. Safety systems like automatic emergency breaking also don't work when there is no bar under the back of the trailer.
On this particular instance, it seems like there was some kind of bar but not the kind that can withstand a crash.
It's almost certain death sentence when a car goes under a semi, the passengers are squashed by the trailer as the cars body travels under it. It's beyond me how this is street legal.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKP5Djjt2Vs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKP5Djjt2Vs
Edit: Upon closer inspection of the photos, now I'm inclined to believe that there is a proper bar that cut through the Tesla. It looks like the bar did not break, went through the car.
- SoftTalker 4y agoWhy do you think there was no guard? It's not entirely clear in the picture, but it looks to me like there is a frame extending down from the back of the trailer to about mid-door level on the car.
- mrtksn 4y agoThere seem to some kind of structure but obviously did not stop the car from traveling under the trailer. Also, it looks like the Tesla wasn't at highway speeds either. My guess is that the structure was just strong enough to hold some signs.
- ceejayoz 4y agoThe photo looks like the bar was there, and sliced through the car.
- mrtksn 4y agoInadequate bar or do Tesla's have a weakness for that kind of structures?
- ceejayoz 4y agoI wonder if it’s the latter. An internal combustion car would have an engine where the bar hits. Teslas have a trunk.
- noizejoy 4y ago> ... internal combustion car would have an engine where the bar hits ... I believe you forgot the word "most" in front of that phrase
- newaccount2021 4y ago
- jcranmer 4y agoAn image search for "Walmart truck" shows up something like this as exemplary of the backside of the truck: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/walmart-truck-gm1081922326-290130951 https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/walmart-truck-gm1081922326..., and I'm not seeing any photos with that bar missing. Admittedly, the photo on the article does manage to almost perfectly obscure where the bar would have been. You can clearly see the ladder steps on the right, but the bar that would be below it is obscured by the lid of the EMTs' toolbox. Open up a larger version of the image in the article here (yay for URLs): https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/PZYT4WOQVJDEJDTJD4YZLF6ROI.jpg https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/..., and you can actually just make out the red/white flashing on the bar below the bottom rung of the ladder and the lid of the toolbox. So the bar was clearly there. It also more clearly shows that the bar cleaved through the frunk pretty easily.
- mrtksn 4y agoIt seems like the bar cut through the car like a butter. A design flaw in the car or the bar maybe? That structure was supposed to crash the front of the car, not cut it.
- mdavidn 4y agoThe trailer has a guard in the photo, and the right side looks intact. If the Tesla was traveling fast enough, it may have sliced itself in half, above and below the guard. Most of the mass in a Tesla is the battery, below the guard.