5 passengers survive after Tesla Model S flies 82 feet through the air in an insane crash

[Zorro]

Tesla is the most talked about carmaker these days, and a new report goes to show why buyers are impressed with the company’s designs. This time, we’re not talking about impressive efficiency or smart features, but about build quality and durability. A Model S was recently involved in a terrifying accident, but the five occupants of the vehicle escaped unharmed. The car’s driver lost control in a turn, the car flew 25 meters (82 feet) in the air, and rolled over at least once after crashing in a field at full speed.

These images are a testament of the accident’s brutality, but also speak for Tesla’s manufacturing skills.

An 18-year old was behind the wheel of her father’s Model S in Pullach, Germany, and she lost control of the vehicle while driving at excessive speeds. The five people in the car were able to exit the car without the help of the first responders, Electrek says. They sustained “serious, but non-life-threatening” injuries and they were transported to the hospital via helicopter for treatment.

The numerous pictures of the crash site posted by German newspaper Merkur show that the car’s front is destroyed, but the cabin doesn’t appear to have sustained damage.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/5-passengers-survive-tesla-model-flies-82-feet-153026679.html

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. If it had gas it might have exploded on impact

I wish I could afford a Tesla

[pediatricmedic]

12. It might have exploded with the batteries as well

The Tesla batteries will burn quite well if the casing is punctured. They are just like any other high energy battery in that regard.

I would even say the risk of fire is higher with electric cars then gasoline cars. Gasoline cars have a fuel cutoff switch as standard safety equipment. No such device or technology exists yet for high energy batteries. The risk should even out over time as crash data is collected and new safety features are added.

[JackRiddler]

14. Wow, you are not picking the right spot for this anti-electric car propaganda.

[anigbrowl]

24. It's not propaganda to make factual observations

Batteries can, in fact, explode. This is not too big of a problem, but then exploding gasoline cars are not that big of a problem either, despite how it may seem from the movies. Cars have come a long way since the days of the Ford Pinto.

[JackRiddler]

28. The facts say completely otherwise.

"Batteries can explode," so what. That has little to say about electric vehicles, which can now look back on a billion driven miles with a far, far lower rate of fires, explosions and fatalities than internal combustion vehicles.

So yes, you are talking uninformed bullshit.

And while you may simply be uninformed, or merely responding reflexively with your preconceptions, the fact is, electric cars have been targeted by a massive and unscrupulous propaganda campaign to create an entirely false impression of their safety.

Here are the facts. Please present data that disputes this, or better yet: show the intellectual mettle to revise your false impression.

Number of Tesla Fire-Related Deaths Per Year Equals What?

http://insideevs.com/number-of-fire-related-deaths-per-year-caused-by-evs/

[anigbrowl]

31. No they don't

Poster above never implied or suggested that Tesla or other electric cars were any less safe, just observed that batteries were not risk free. Massive unscrupulous propaganda campaign my ass, Tesla is hugely popular, deservedly slow, and has has enjoyed alrgely favorable media coverage for years now. The worst thing I've heard about electric cars in the last 5 years is that the Prius is kind of a boring drive and some people (fewer and fewer) still have misgivings about driving range on a single charge given the absence of charging infrastructure.

Enjoy battling your straw man. I would have been impressed by your courage 10 years ago when electric cars were not widely accepted as the future of automotive development. Hey, have you heard that one day they might make a self-driving car? It would have a computer inside! Crazy, huh?

[JackRiddler]

32. Tesla stock has swung up and down due to such stories.

I don't own any by the way.

As for the propaganda campaign, judge for yourself:

https://www.google.com/search?q=anti-tesla+propaganda&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

It has even resulted in anti-Tesla legislation.

[anigbrowl]

33. I am well aware of this as I do own some

Stock swings up and down in response to any media coverage of a firm's products, particularly when the first has a small but innovative product line. There is no massive propaganda campaign, just a bunch of naysayers and fanboys for competing products...like in every other market sector. If you buy into that then you probably think there's a deep-rooted conflict between people who prefer Xbox over Playstation and and a bitter war between iPhone and Android users.

Would established market players like Tesla to pack up and go away? Duh, of course they would. Does Elon Musk play this up to position Tesla as the plucky underdog and get some free publicity for his highly successful car company? Duh, of course he does. It's a very popular marketing strategy and I could show you a string of companies in niche markets that use it to build brand loyalty among fans. It's different from when pop stars throw shade at each other and both benefit from the free publicity.

I've held Tesla stock for a while, because I've been into the idea of electric cars since the 1980s. You're not enlightening me about anything here, but I guess I'm glad to see the marketing works.

[JackRiddler]

34. Sure, we can be electric friends here but...

Michigan actually has an anti-Tesla law, Texas came close, and Forbes has what seems to be a permanent anti-Tesla columnist (bet there's a conflict of interest in there somewhere). So it's not nothing.

[anigbrowl]

35. Yes I know about all that

And it's pretty small beer. The anti-Tesla laws you mention have little to with electric cars as such and a whole lot to do with the auto dealer lobby not liking Tesla's direct-sales strategy disrupting their cozy business model. As for a columnist for Forbes, who cares, anyone can be a Forbes columnist just like anyone can write for the Examiner or Huffington Post. Sure, opposition to electric cars exists but it's trivial int he overall scheme of things. Tesla's biggest problem is that its existing cars are very expensive and their business model depends too heavily on green subsidies, although this will change with the availability of the mid-price sedan. I mean c'mon, if you want to talk about massive propaganda campaigns then lets discuss climate change or something, but Tesla's doing fine and calling out the poster above for being part of some propaganda effort was total BS on your part. Just because someone disagrees with you on something doesn't mean they're an evil shill on the payroll of some corporate villain.

[JackRiddler]

39. I did not say that.

Just because someone disagrees with you on something doesn't mean they're an evil shill on the payroll of some corporate villain.

They probably are not, but such shills do exist and run propaganda against Tesla and EVs generally, to which many are susceptible.

Then you have people who picked up a couple of facts about batteries and think they know something everyone else doesn't, which is what I expect is happening above. But the data that matters are the relative EV vs. ICV rates for fires and fatalities, now that EVs have probably 2 billion miles driven (more since 2014). There is no comparison - EVs are safer.

[anigbrowl]

40. But you're arguing with a point nobody made

Nobody claimed EVs were unsafe. Someone drily observed that EV accidents were not automatically devoid of risk just because there's no gasoline, since because batteries are in fact prone to fires in some circumstances, and you went off about a propaganda campaign against electric cars.

Look, nothing personal, but nobody wants to have conversations with someone who politicized everything and takes a casual conversational observation as meaning they were duped by propaganda. Just dial it back a little bit, maybe try not assuming the worst possible explanation for things, or asking people what they mean before you begin shooting at them.

You basically called the other poster out as a shill by accusing him/her of trying to spread anti-electric-car propaganda. Just because shills do exist doesn't mean that you are particularly expert at spotting them, and in this case I think you needlessly insulted someone who was just making a passing observation about battery technology.

[JackRiddler]

41. You are just not dealing with what was written.

"I would even say the risk of fire is higher with electric cars then gasoline cars."

That's nonsense, based on the rich data so far accumulated. The risk of fire is far lower with electric cars. Period. It is also the propaganda against EVs. Did the poster mean it as propaganda? Probably not, and I don't care. It's bullshit. It's ignorant. And it is absolutely political, if on a small scale. So deal. Read what you are defending. Deal with the stats from a now massive sampling of EVs in action, which are indisputable. EVs are safer, risk of fire is lower.

[anigbrowl]

43. No, YOU are not dealing with what was writen

Go back and read the rest of that message and note that the poster qualified that observation and said that he expected the rate to fall significantly as more data was added. That's the opposite of ignorant, it's nuanced. You were so eager to pick a fight that you ignored the context of the original remark and now you're posturing about how truthy you are. Get over yourself and read the whole thing instead of going off half-cocked.

[JackRiddler]

48. Okay, thanks.

[whatthehey]

59. In fairness there was this in post 12

I would even say the risk of fire is higher with electric cars then gasoline cars.

Which is utterly false.

[rockfordfile]

66. Actually the fossil fuel industry doesn't like electric cars.

The Koch brothers are a problem as well to electric cars, but they can't stop progress.

[catnhatnh]

36. He's right

There are a whole new set of dangers in an electrical vehicle crash.

[JackRiddler]

38. No, he is not. Fact: EVs are safer, period.

Whatever the theoretical and real dangers of batteries, real-existing EVs are much safer than ICVs!

Here are the facts. Please present data that disputes this, or better yet: show the intellectual mettle to revise your false impression.

Number of Tesla Fire-Related Deaths Per Year Equals What?

http://insideevs.com/number-of-fire-related-deaths-per-year-caused-by-evs/

[nationalize the fed]

54. Fueling er...charging even

Good thing his kids or pets weren't stuck in the back



Tesla Model S fire in Norway caused by short circuit in car

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1102962_tesla-model-s-fire-in-norway-caused-by-short-circuit-in-car

Meanwhile. Tesla bought what was left of the car and no one will ever know anything else, apparently

[whatthehey]

60. Anecdotes

Data show fewer EV fires per car

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Those batteries burn, but do not "explode". Further, they are less likely to burn

The batteries would have to be exposed to sustained high temperatures to burn. Without gasoline, they are unlikely to be exposed like that. Conceivably the crash could create a short circuit, but it would take a little time for that to cause high temperatures high enough and sustained enough to ignite the battery.

[Mnpaul]

46. That usually occurs only in movies

In real life, they might explode after burning for a while

[scscholar]

2. Sad to the the rich...

get better protection than normal people.

[EX500rider]

13. 5 star crash rated cars start at $14,000

http://www.autotrader.com/best-cars/top-6-cars-under-30000-with-five-star-safety-ratings-189887

[Brother Buzz]

3. The windshield was undamaged? amazing

[passiveporcupine]

21. That blew me away too.

Man, I'd love to have one of those if they came in all wheel drive and a small pickup.

[Mnpaul]

47. intact would be a better term

If you look at the photo below it is obviously damaged

[Brother Buzz]

50. I don't see the damage

Are you seeing spiderwebbing or something?

The only thing is see that could be considered damage is an illusion created by the deployed airbag pressed against the glass.

[Mnpaul]

51. It looks shattered in the wiper area

as far as I can tell

[Brother Buzz]

53. If that's the case, I will downgrade to...

Largely intact. And points for the bulletproof airbag that wasn't impaled.

[Mnpaul]

55. After looking at all the pics(at link)

it also looks like the passenger side hood hinge may be stuck in the winshield(pic 2)

[Brother Buzz]

56. Maybe in Pic 2

But not in pics 3 and 4.

[NV Whino]

4. I think it can be repaired

New fenders, new hood. No problem. And, holy shit!

[hatrack]

5. Might I suggest a new driver?

[NV Whino]

6. Ah yes, the first order of business

What do you want to bet she pushed the "insane" button?

[Warpy]

7. No kidding. I suspect the driver

will be grounded until she turns 21.

[JackRiddler]

16. I suspect "21" is more like her alcohol level.

Pullach, where I've been, is one of those small German towns where blind-drunk driving is a cherished natural right.

[Urchin]

19. You might get what you wish for

in a few years, once self-driving cars are on the road and human drivers are either a)outlawed, or b)all but prevented from driving because of insurance, licensing, and liability costs (I predict that within a dozen years after driverless cars hit the road for real, that human who still insist on driving will be viewed as reckless, in the way we now view drunk drivers, so if a human driver causes an accident and kills someone, that human driver will be open to massive civil damages; and their insurance company will be forced to raise premiums on human drivers though the roof).

[JackRiddler]

30. This may eventually happen but it will take a century.

A dozen years? Seriously? We're 45 years into the Nixon chapter of the war on drugs and it's still not over. Take a look around at how people are about driving their precious vehicles, the love they invest in them. IN this case, actual democracy will work. Mega-millions of voters will be passionate about it, it will be their most important issue like guns are for the gun people. Insurance companies will be regulated by legislation so that they do not do what you are describing. After that there may be a gradual movement away from driver fetishism. It will take many decades if ever before we reach what you are imagining. (And I hope by then a different sort of logic prevails: return the streets to the humans! Why driverless cars? Have streetcars and subways, retool cities to be carfree!)

[GulfCoast66]

45. I cannot wait

To see my self driving full-size truck back my boat down the ramp😏

I am thinking it may be awhile before I see that.

[Eleanors38]

68. What? Cars don't kill people, but people kill people? No way.

[bluesbassman]

25. My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools.

I can fix this!

[NickB79]

44. The seats probably need some new upholstery and a good cleaning too

[MADem]

8. What an impressive vehicle. The price is pretty impressive, too.

One day they'll be more affordable...but not today.

[Hortensis]

9. Wow. Thank you, Zorro.

Even if it turns out they don't all perform this well in all accidents, it is impressive.

[tammywammy]

10. That's a crazy crash.

[TeamPooka]

11. alawys amazed at how many unskilled drivers get behind the wheels of expensive cars with

more money than training.
Nice car, should learn how to drive it.

[brush]

15. The fact that there was no engine and trans shoved back into the passenger . . .

compartment at impact is what saved the passengers.

[Zorro]

18. Tesla Model S: So Safe, It Broke NHTSA's Testing Equipment

"...In testing the roof of the Model S, NHTSA's equipment finally met its match: the machinery broke just above the 4g mark. As Tesla explains, "While the exact number is uncertain due to Model S breaking the testing machine, what this means is that at least four additional fully loaded Model S vehicles could be placed on top of an owner's car without the roof caving in."

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1086364_tesla-model-s-so-safe-it-broke-nhtsas-testing-equipment

Must be why the roof looks pretty much intact.

[Helen Borg]

20. Publicity stunt?

Could it be?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. No. I do not know how you can come up with such a stupid idea. What do you think serious

What did you think "serious injuries" and "transported to hospital via helicopter" meant when you read the excerpt? Did you read the excerpt?

[Helen Borg]

57. Stunts go wrong at times.

[anigbrowl]

26. Are you fucking serious

It might be time to take off the tinfoil hat.

[Helen Borg]

58. Dead serious

[anigbrowl]

70. Then you're delusional

Look, when you want to do something like that you hire a bunch of professionals, pull permits, and make publicity material out of it because people love watching stuff get blown up or crashed or whatever even if it's staged. Nobody gets amateurs to do that sort of thing in search of some free publicity because there's no economic advantage in doing so and because there would be such a huge downside if anything went badly wrong and someone died or whatever.

Honestly, this idea of yours is really really stupid. Just because you can conceive of people acting that way does not mean that it's a reasonable expectation. If you can't reject a stupid idea when you have one then you're going to be prey for anyone with a plausible-seeming cover story. The stupid part is not the idea of someone putting others at risk for profit (that's a real thing) but the fact that there's absolutely zero evidence to suggest this has happened and the fact that the economic incentives for doing so are so insufficient as explained above. All things are possible but you need to exercise much better judgment about what's probable.

[Helen Borg]

71. I still think it's a publicity stunt gone wrong.

[rockfordfile]

67. hahaha no kidding

[AllyCat]

23. In my dreams, i will have one of those cars.

So glad no one was hurt!

[NBachers]

27. "No more driving for you, young lady!"

[Turbineguy]

29. People who survive crashes

live to buy cars another day.

[Initech]

37. Why am I reminded of Ricky Bobby?

"Yup... I'm flying through the air... that's not good!"

[Demonaut]

42. "survived unharmed" but with "serious injuries"?? shit writing AGAIN!

[MoonchildCA]

69. Yes! I read through the comments simply to see...

...if someone else noticed that too.

[Scruffy1]

49. Having investigated quite a few crashes I don't find this surprising.

If the article is correct the car became air born and landed on a field with at least one rollover. If it would have hit a tree we would be looking at a different outcome. I'm not saying anything bad about Tesla, but most of these kind of accidents are survivable in most cars. It,s not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop.

[leveymg]

52. That's right. This was likely survivable in any modern car.

82 feet and one rollover doesn't seem all that spectacular.

[Glassunion]

61. Not spectacular at all...

Unless your viewpoint of the accident was from inside the car. Then I'd go ahead and say it'd be more like a "HOLY F***ING SHIT!!!" level of spectacular.

[leveymg]

62. I have a similar view recorded in my mind from 1983.

It all seemed to be in slow motion. I walked away, the Chevy Monza didn't, but it actually didn't look as bad after it rolled into the woods as that Tesla S.

[Glassunion]

63. Mine was a '93 Mazda 626... It was 7 days old (to me)... To the hour.

I can still vividly recall the moments leading up to the point when I hit my head... Then it gets fuzzy.

Was rear-ended while at a complete stop. Heard screeching tires, looked up into my rear-view mirror in time to see the back window explode. Woke up facing the other direction with 2 loose teeth, broken nose, a screaming headache, 2 herniated disks, and a lap full of blood (nose)... It sucked. I liked that car.

[leveymg]

64. Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.

Glad you came out of it in one piece, more of less. I have been very, very lucky - cars, motorcycles, small airplanes - I have a thick skull. Knock wood.

[Glassunion]

65. Very true... On a technicality I did not walk away.

The lovely EMS team strapped my ass to a board for a trip to the ER. Thankfully no concussion (thick skull too I guess), and back pain was tolerable. I did walk out of the hospital. My nose has been broken so many times my face barely swelled, and no bruising. My teeth sorted themselves out. Dentist suggested that they would heal given time, I was back to work within a few months. My back no longer bothers me, PT worked wonders without surgery.

But yes... Small planes, motorcycles, cars... been lucky too. Only had one kind of close call on the bike this morning. Not the other driver's fault, it is a blind hill, and I'm ready to brake before I crest it. Wasn't even close, and he apologized.