Very sad... Fatality in a Model S on the 405 part 2

Aug 21, 2016

CatB

Don, my heart and prayers go out for you and your family. May the highest powers in heaven comfort, strengthen and be with you all.
This story has weighed on my heart since I saw it Friday night. We all do grieve with you in this horrible, terrrifying and terrible loss.

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Aug 21, 2016

Cloxxki

Gizmotoy said: ?

The 7 year old would have still been required to be in a booster seat. The chance of the kids not being bucked in is really small.

The seatbacks of the rear seats sit above the wheels. The crash damage shows the Tahoe pushed beyond that, especially on the passenger-side of the vehicle. That's going to be bad, seatbelt or no.

Really sad. Makes me want to go hug my little guy.

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Yeah even with proper seat belts and seats, such a crash is going to cost lives. Often I'll seee infannts riding on the lap of the passenger seat. Or a gang of kids rioting a back seat, out of control and no seat belts to be seen. Much smaller crashes and mere swerving/braking would kill then.

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Aug 23, 2016

Dbitter1

I haven't seen this posted here. The pictures are oddly uncharacteristic of a Tesla... it has pretty much destroyed the back half of the car, like the SUV hit it above the battery.

Updated: 7-year-old girl dies, 13-year-old girl in critical condition after 405 freeway crash; another driver arrested

My heart goes out to the family.

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Aug 23, 2016

CmdrThor

Thoroughly discussed here: Very sad... Fatality in a Model S on the 405

It was Model S, not Model X.

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Aug 23, 2016

Dbitter1

CmdrThor said: ?

Thoroughly discussed here: Very sad... Fatality in a Model S on the 405

It was Model S, not Model X.

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Erp, my bad, thought it was an X. Did not correlate.

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Aug 23, 2016

earlyretirement

Romottola said: ?

Here's a pic from the scene of the accident taken by one of the passengers from the Honda that was hit from behind by the Tesla. That passenger says they were traveling at a speed of about 5 mph when they were hit, so it stands to reason that traffic was at a near stand still when the SUV came barreling up from behind at a high rate of speed and crossed into their lane. Here's an excerpt from a FB post of that passenger and his account of the accident:

"I almost died yesterday on the 405 Freeway because of a reckless, drunk driver. I was riding with XXXXXX and XXXXXX in a black Honda Civic, sitting in the rear passenger seat. We were coming to a stop in the carpool lane, riding 5mph, just chatting and listening to reggae. Then out of the blue, we hear a car honk right behind us, a loud crash, then in a split second, an even louder BANG came from our very own collision. Everyone in our car was fortunately alright. However, the family behind us was not. We look over to our left hand side to see a black Chevy Tahoe, completely Smashed into the Tesla that was originally behind us. Behind the wheel of the Tesla was a father that had blood all over the back of his head. Because of shock, the father was moving on autopilot, without any reaction on his face, attempting to save his two unconscious daughters, whom were pinned between the car seats and the Chevy Tahoe. One daughter behind the drivers seat was 7 years old, stuck next to her was her 13 year old sister. The drunk driver in the Tahoe was alive, physically unscathed, and frantically pacing back and forth. To our surprise, the CHP showed up to the scene no longer than 10 seconds from the horrific collision. Turns out they have been receiving reports and phone calls of a black Tahoe swerving in and out on the 405 freeway, and were already in the pursuit of the drunk driver. The CHP, Fire Fighters, and employees of MR. C Towing spent the next 15 mins trying everything they could to pry out the door and save the 2 little girls stuck in the Tessla. After pulling out their bodies, they said that the 7 year old girl did not make it. The 13 year old, although breathing, was still unconscious and was put into critical care. The father, which I don't think was even conscious during the entire ordeal, was placed on a stretcher and sent to critical care. I remember the drunk dunce behind the wheel of the Tahoe was being interrogated by the CHP right next to me, and was asked the question as to why this happened. The idiot says, "I was late and in a rush." He was cuffed, and was taken to jail.

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Don,

My heart and prayers go out to you. I can't imagine what you are going through. I am a father of 3 kids (2 young daughters) and I can't fathom the pain you must be going through.

I hope your other daughter is doing well. Please let your Tesla family know if we can do anything for you or your family.

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Aug 23, 2016

skrenes

I feel so sick to my stomach reading all this. I can't imagine what the family is going through. This is one of my worst nightmares and the reason I fearfully always check my rear view mirror, especially with my son in the rear facing seat. I have even preplanned to slam the accelerator if I think a car is going to rear end me hard.

I trust that Tesla has reinforced the 7-seat Model S. I was going to buy the Eco-Hitch next spring, but I think I may get it now so that I can 1) check that the reinforcement was properly installed and 2) create extra rigidity to the rear with the hitch. I know it'll mean worse whiplash for my wife and I, but I'd rather have my head snapped off if it means my kids survive a rear ended accident.

To perhaps the few that wonder why I'd put my son in the rear facing seat, it comes down to statistics. Though his biggest danger is a high-speed rear end crash like this one, most rear-end collisions occur with far less force -- and for all the other angles, particularly front end collisions (that are often accompanied with much higher forces) he's far more safe.

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