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Stolen Tesla Crashes, Splits in Half in Fiery Multi-Car Wreck
- api 12y agoSo EVs are good enough for Los Angeles high speed chases now... does this mean they've finally arrived?
- jameskilton 12y agoIf it wasn't a Tesla, it would just say "Stolen car". Why is the article so focused on it being a Tesla?
- warble 12y agoBecause it's a TESLA and they're dangerous!! (sarcasm)
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- DanBC 12y agobecause News. Rather than lamenting poor quality journalism people could be preparing for the obvious stories in the future. eg A self driving car is going to crash and kill people. That will be reported, probably sensationally, by newsmedia.
- warble 12y agoSummary: some jackhole was going 100 miles per hour and hit a honda carrying 5 people, then struck a pole which cut the car in half. Half of it stuck in a building, and the other half of the tesla caught on fire. This has nothing to do with Tesla and EV fire concerns. Try doing this with an internal combustion engine car and see what happens.
- Zancarius 12y ago> This has nothing to do with Tesla and EV fire concerns. Exactly. There was a rash a year or two ago of idiots wrecking their high end sports cars, splitting them in half (and usually killing themselves in the process). The focus of those articles was on the driver and not the car (the titles reflected it too). Curious that he managed to "significantly damage at least four vehicles." That should be a testament to the Tesla's build quality.
- Artemis2 12y agoSurprise, cars break when you crash at 100mph, no matter the build quality or the brand.
- keehun 12y agoI wonder what would've happened if Tesla both had the ability to remotely shut the car down AND then shut it down in compliance with the police involved. Less people would be hurt, a synagogue would not have those damages, a whole lot of people with less stress. Precedent from 2009 with OnStar: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/10/onstar-gps-carjacking.html http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/10/onstar-gp...
- w1ntermute 12y agoNot sure why that is Tesla-specific, since most cars don't have this functionality anyway. The only reason why this article was even written is because it involved a Tesla, and readers love hearings stories about accidents involving Teslas.
- th3iedkid 12y agoi wonder if its safe to shut down or slow down a vehicle remotely because speed & approach judgements are best left to drivers of the vehicle unless of-course its remotely driven.
- dllthomas 12y agoProbably dangerous, but probably safer than a high-speed chase.
- th3iedkid 12y agoYes you are right , for the resultant set of safe times and coordinates to slow-down/shutdown should be algorithmic derivations; given fast computing and enough data-gathering.But am wondering if modern GPS remote mechanisms do these ?
- dllthomas 12y agoIt seems like you could probably do pretty well by 1) alerting the driver, and 2) gradually reducing the max speed.
- sergiotapia 12y agoThis reeks of a smear campaign for Tesla Automobiles. A regular petrol car would have exploded and hurt much more people.
- Moral_ 12y agoWhy was this even posted to HN?
- rdl 12y agoWow, the driver (thief) appears to have survived (even if in critical condition at the hospital)? Not sure if that's an endorsement of the Tesla's safety, quality of EMS in LA, or billions of years of evolution, but I wouldn't expect someone to survive an accident like that.
- Artemis2 12y agoI think nobody has ever died in a Tesla yet.
- manicdee 12y agoThis driver was out of the Tesla during the crash.
- bradleyland 12y agoThe car split in half and the driver was ejected. It would be very difficult to make a case that the driver survived on the merits of the Model S's safety features. That is not an indictment of the Model S, however. Automobiles are engineered for safety within an expected operating envelope. Automobile safety engineering is a compromise of three factors cost, weight, and safety. Tesla goes above and beyond in their engineering of their safety features, but they still target an operating envelope that is sane. The forces involved in a car accident increase rapidly with speed, so the compromises involved fail hard when you push well outside the envelope. What is an operating envelope, exactly? Roadway speed limits are (ideally) set based on conditions. Things like the number of side streets, shoulder clearances, road quality, and even the design of road infrastructure (like guardrails) are taken in to consideration. Interstates are the only environment where an automobile should exceed 55 MPH (if you're obeying traffic laws). Roadside obstructions on an interstate are designed with this in mind. City streets are not. When you drive within the confines of traffic laws, you're within the operating envelope. Exceed these parameters, and you're pushing in to territory that was not explicitly considered when engineering the car. Put more simply, there is no testing standard for impact with telephone poles at >55 MPH because that is never an expected outcome for accidents where operators are driving within an expected operating envelope.
- kristaps 12y agoReal criminal genius - steals a car that is constantly connected to the mothership and can't be chopped up for parts (hardly think there could be a market for that).
- paulyg 12y agoI've seen plenty of pictures on the internet of supercars sliced in half and burned after crashes at that kind of speed. For example the Paul Walker crash. From the picture of the Honda I assume the Tesla broadsides the Honda whiched caused it to spin, slide, and strike the pole.
- matiasp 12y agoIt would be great for Tesla if first person to die in a Model S was a car thief. Someone is going to be the first. Lets hope is not a child :S
- bryanlarsen 12y agoWhy was there a high speed chase, anyways? Don't most police departments have rules that high speed chases should only proceed when lives are endangered?