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What the Model S does after it detects that it's been in an accident

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So my car was involved in an accident on Friday and I had airbag deployment. I spoke to the service people in Menlo Park yesterday and they informed me that when the airbags deploy a fuse is blown which isolates the 12 volt battery from the main battery. The lights and console are driven off the 12volt battery.

So I still had dome lights, hazard lights and center console activity after the accident.

I used the console to manually put the parking brake on and turn off the car.

I even used the web browser to try to pull up the first responder guide.

After 30-40 minutes, my center console and dashboard went dark and the dome lights started to go on and off intermittently--this was the 12 volt battery running low.

He said that I might have been able to drive away from the accident if I replaced the fuse. But it's hidden away and you can't get to it unless you disassemble the frunk.

What I wish it did:
Turn off the radio
Turn off those damn warning buzzers!
Display a help screen on the center console with shortcuts to dial 911, put the car in park, turn off the car, set the parking brake, put car into tow mode.

In the future, after getting into an accident, the prudent thing to do might be to engage parking brake, chock the wheels and then put the car in towing mode before the screen dies.
My car had to be dragged onto the flatbed because I couldn't put it in tow mode. Tesla asked me to request a flatbed with "skates" for the wheels, but the tow truck driver completely ignored me when I brought this up. His rationale was that my car was totaled since the airbags went off so it didn't matter if he damaged the car. Well...it turns out that my car might not be totaled after all. I'll find out later today.
 
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This is all great feedback for Tesla, GasDoc. They can decide what things, if any, need to be changed for the future.

I'd have been inclined to send the tow truck driver back to his home base for the 'skates'. I'm annoyed to no end when I hire someone and they don't provide the service I've requested ahead of time. Had I just been in the same accident as you, that tow truck driver would have seen 'seriously pissed off crazy lady."
 
Was the car further damaged when it was dragged onto the flatbed, and can the tow truck driver be liable for being an idiot and ignoring you?

Because the parking brake was engaged, the main damage would be flat spots on the tires. It's possible that the air suspension may have gone to the limit and might have been damaged if the angle to get it up on the flatbed was too great. There would be no damage to the drivetrain.
 
Because the parking brake was engaged, the main damage would be flat spots on the tires. It's possible that the air suspension may have gone to the limit and might have been damaged if the angle to get it up on the flatbed was too great. There would be no damage to the drivetrain.

Because my car was pointed into shrubbery, they had to tow it from behind. I'm wondering what they used for anchor points since the instructions included with the car show the tow points to be in front
 
So my car was involved in an accident on Friday and I had airbag deployment. I spoke to the service people in Menlo Park yesterday and they informed me that when the airbags deploy a fuse is blown which isolates the 12 volt battery from the main battery. The lights and console are driven off the 12volt battery.

So I still had dome lights, hazard lights and center console activity after the accident.

I used the console to manually put the parking brake on and turn off the car.

I even used the web browser to try to pull up the first responder guide.

After 30-40 minutes, my center console and dashboard went dark and the dome lights started to go on and off intermittently--this was the 12 volt battery running low.

He said that I might have been able to drive away from the accident if I replaced the fuse. But it's hidden away and you can't get to it unless you disassemble the frunk.

What I wish it did:
Turn off the radio
Turn off those damn warning buzzers!
Display a help screen on the center console with shortcuts to dial 911, put the car in park, turn off the car, set the parking brake, put car into tow mode.

In the future, after getting into an accident, the prudent thing to do might be to engage parking brake, chock the wheels and then put the car in towing mode before the screen dies.
My car had to be dragged onto the flatbed because I couldn't put it in tow mode. Tesla asked me to request a flatbed with "skates" for the wheels, but the tow truck driver completely ignored me when I brought this up. His rationale was that my car was totaled since the airbags went off so it didn't matter if he damaged the car. Well...it turns out that my car might not be totaled after all. I'll find out later today.

You should e-mail your feedback to Tesla. Those are all good suggestions.
 
Hi GasDoc,

First, I am very glad that you and your family are safe and thank you for sharing your story and pictures of your accident.

I think your suggestions are great and would be sure to pass them along to Tesla via the normal email with a copy to George also as I'm sure his people can make sure it is correctly directed. Even an automated dial to 911 using the cars cell service rather than depending on a Bluetooth phone isn't out of the question.

The only items you list that I would hesitate about are the automatic setting of the park mode/parking brake/tow mode. There could be cases where if immediately after an impact, you are in lanes of traffic putting you in danger of a secondary collision(perhaps a highway at night) and you want to have the car continue motion out of the lanes of traffic. Also, because tow mode creates movement of the car, perhaps just a large button placed on the screen for this is appropriate allowing for someone deciding such motion is safe after the impact.

Peter


So my car was involved in an accident on Friday and I had airbag deployment. I spoke to the service people in Menlo Park yesterday and they informed me that when the airbags deploy a fuse is blown which isolates the 12 volt battery from the main battery. The lights and console are driven off the 12volt battery.

So I still had dome lights, hazard lights and center console activity after the accident.

I used the console to manually put the parking brake on and turn off the car.

I even used the web browser to try to pull up the first responder guide.

After 30-40 minutes, my center console and dashboard went dark and the dome lights started to go on and off intermittently--this was the 12 volt battery running low.

He said that I might have been able to drive away from the accident if I replaced the fuse. But it's hidden away and you can't get to it unless you disassemble the frunk.

What I wish it did:
Turn off the radio
Turn off those damn warning buzzers!
Display a help screen on the center console with shortcuts to dial 911, put the car in park, turn off the car, set the parking brake, put car into tow mode.

In the future, after getting into an accident, the prudent thing to do might be to engage parking brake, chock the wheels and then put the car in towing mode before the screen dies.
My car had to be dragged onto the flatbed because I couldn't put it in tow mode. Tesla asked me to request a flatbed with "skates" for the wheels, but the tow truck driver completely ignored me when I brought this up. His rationale was that my car was totaled since the airbags went off so it didn't matter if he damaged the car. Well...it turns out that my car might not be totaled after all. I'll find out later today.
 
The only items you list that I would hesitate about are the automatic setting of the park mode/parking brake/tow mode. There could be cases where if immediately after an impact, you are in lanes of traffic putting you in danger of a secondary collision(perhaps a highway at night) and you want to have the car continue motion out of the lanes of traffic. Also, because tow mode creates movement of the car, perhaps just a large button placed on the screen for this is appropriate allowing for someone deciding such motion is safe after the impact.

I think we are in agreement. I wasn't suggesting automatically setting the parking break, I was suggesting an "Accident Detected" screen with shortcut buttons that for things like Park/Parking Brake/Tow mode.

Note that your mobility is severely limited after airbag deployment. The main battery is cut off from the 12v battery by a safety mechanism. I think that many ICE cars have similar safety features that cut off the fuel pump after an impact.
 
This is another great use for the Connector Protector. When circumstances necessitate that you put your car in tow mode which releases the parking brake, having this with you will allow you to 'chock' the wheel and prevent the vehicle from rolling until assistance arrives.

ConnectorProtectorMA31236164-0009.png



http://www.connectorprotector.com
 
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This is another great use for the Connector Protector. When circumstances necessitate that you put your car in tow mode which releases the parking brake, having this with you will allow you to 'chock' the wheel and prevent the vehicle from rolling until assistance arrives.

View attachment 26788


http://www.connectorprotector.com

GREAT idea... but after reading several posts on different forums (including one poor guy who got stuck in his MS because he couldn't re-engage the parking brake with the charging plug in on an incline) am I the only one who thinks SOME manual brake cable should be on the top of the list of improvements?