Not long ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced the Tesla Model 3 passed its crash tests with flying colors and received the TOP SAFETY PICK+ rating. The IIHS does not conduct roof strength tests as part of this procedure, but if it did, the Model 3 would likely nail that too.
A video posted online at the end of last week shows what at first glance appears to be a minor crash, the result of an unfortunate encounter between bad timing and lack of attention.
On an unnamed road somewhere, a Model 3 is driving on a four-lane, two-way street. The car is in the first lane and doesn’t appear to be traveling very fast. On the left lane, cars suddenly begin to slow down.
The reason for this soon becomes apparent: someone at the head of the line decided to give way to an incoming Volkswagen Beetle that is trying to make a left turn. Blocked by the other cars, the driver of the Tesla sees the Beetle a little too late.
In the video shot with the car’s onboard cameras, we can see the Tesla swerve to avoid impact with the incoming car and hit a pole on the side of the road instead. The force of the impact, although it doesn’t seem at all severe, brings the pole down on top of the car.
It’s unclear at this point whether the Model 3 was on Autopilot and it somehow failed to take into account the pole while avoiding the Beetle, or if the driver was in control and did the same.
According to information that surfaced online, there were two people in the car: the driver and a two-year-old child. Both of them, it seems, escaped unharmed due to what is widely praised as the excellent strength of the car’s roof.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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