Model 3 totaled in accident

[ErickVuckson]

Last night my girlfriend was coming home from work in my model 3 long range. She was going 75 mph on the interstate in the left lane passing a car in the right lane when a deer jumped in front of her. She said autopilot was engaged and said it swerved to the left to miss the deer after engaging the emergency brakes. The car went under the retainer cables and hit the guard rail of an overpass pier. She blacked out after that. She got out with minor bruising and a mild concussion. I reached out to tesla in hope of recovering the footage to see what happened. They told me I needed a subpoena. If anyone has any suggestions it would be a huge help, thanks

 

[commasign]

Glad to hear she’s ok. Whichever tow company took the car would probably let you get your belongings so maybe grab the dashcam USB while you’re there? It’s in the front of the center console, below the screen and behind the phone dock.

 

[MP3Mike]

I take it you hadn't setup the Tesla Cam feature? (Which would only give you part of the story, it wouldn't be able to tell you if AP steered to the left or if your girlfriend did.)

 

[Silicon Desert]

I reached out to tesla in hope of recovering the footage to see what happened. They told me I needed a subpoena. If anyone has any suggestions it would be a huge help, thanks

Wow, sure glad she is ok. The one part that bothers me about this is Tesla thinking YOUR camera footage in YOUR car that YOU bought.... only belongs to them and you have to jump through legal hoops to get it. That needs to change. I guess you need to hire an attorney to go after it.

Oh and to add, I am impressed that if she was going 75 mph, that somehow she or the AP got the car to come to a stop with damage I would have expected to be a lot more.

 

[Fusion]

Glad to hear she’s ok. Whichever tow company took the car would probably let you get your belongings so maybe grab the dashcam USB while you’re there? It’s in the front of the center console, below the screen and behind the phone dock.

I'm sure if he put one, he would know where it is. They don't come standard. Sounds like he is requesting the vids from Tesla.

 

[commasign]

I'm sure if he put one, he would know where it is. They don't come standard. Sounds like he is requesting the vids from Tesla.

OP may not be familiar with Tesla (it’s not his car), hence his post here.

 

[puckpurnell]

So sorry.

 

[b team]

Google “preservation letter.” Then get an attorney. This is not legal advice.

 

[lolder]

The thread title is misleading. The AP did not cause this accident. This will be click bait for the FUDs.

 

[tomas]

If it wasn’t OPs car it is perfectly appropriate Tesla would not provide video. That would be a gross violation of privacy laws.

 

[Silicon Desert]

The thread title is misleading. The AP did not cause this accident. This will be click bait for the FUDs.

yup, glad you mentioned it. A field day for the people that want to trash AP. Maybe a better title of "How AP saved my butt after a deer tried to kill me"

 

[Dangerous Fish]

OP may not be familiar with Tesla (it’s not his car), hence his post here.

He said it is his car driven by his girlfriend.

The thread title is misleading. The AP did not cause this accident. This will be click bait for the FUDs.

Agree wholeheartedly.

 

[Silicon Desert]

If it wasn’t OPs car it is perfectly appropriate Tesla would not provide video. That would be a gross violation of privacy laws.

That's a great point. Although it seems in the original OP text it is stated to be his car that his GF was driving and he is trying to get the video. That's what got my attention. OP correct me if I jumped off the deep end of the pool.

 

[Stirthepot]

OP may not be familiar with Tesla (it’s not his car), hence his post here.

it is his car, "my girlfriend was coming home from work in my model 3 long range"

 

[ErickVuckson]

OP may not be familiar with Tesla (it’s not his car), hence his post here.

My usb filled up a few days before and I formatted it but the icon showed up with a gray x on it vs the red dot. I checked the usb but it was empty

 

[ErickVuckson]

The thread title is misleading. The AP did not cause this accident. This will be click bait for the FUDs.[/QUOTE

The thread title is misleading. The AP did not cause this accident. This will be click bait for the FUDs.

it was on autopilot when the accident occurred. Exactly what the title entails. I’m a huge supporter of tesla and am not dogging on them in anyway. Just trying to figure out the cause of the accident

 

[ErickVuckson]

I’ve heard that tesla saves the crash footage but when I called customer support, first he said I needed a subpoena, then after I told him that I personally didn’t save it from teslacam he changed his story saying that they don’t save any of the footage. Why would I need a subpoena to access the footage off my usb from teslacam...

 

[Az_Rael]

Just trying to figure out the cause of the accident

Wasn't the deer the cause of the accident?

If you have concerns about how AP reacted to the deer, you can submit a request for Tesla to analyze the autopilot event via support. It will take a while, but I have seen at least one person get a response back giving the basic play by play of when AP was disengaged, steering inputs, etc.

Here is that example: Accident while on EAP...

Why would I need a subpoena to access the footage off my usb from teslacam...

The footage Tesla does save is the crash footage from AP, not the USB TeslaCam footage. That is what you either need the lawyer for or alternatively, you can hire one of the hackers on this forum to acces the data from the car for you. I dont think Tesla saves the USB Teslacam files.

 

[SMAlset]

I believe it's always been that way. They do collect a few seconds of still images from the front camera along with the statistics collected in those few seconds, data from the accelerator, brake, AP, etc. not directly usable by the average owner. They release the crash data (like a black box) only to police, insurance companies or as compelled by court order (ie subpoena) probably because of liability issues involving money, fault and damages and sometimes injuries. Maybe you were following the issue surrounding the release of data from the Model X crash in Mt. View, Calif. and the kind of info that Tesla collects, probably like other car companies to a lesser degree since their cars may not collect as much. I'm thinking the person you spoke to was thinking this kind of information was what you were after. Like maybe you might be suing the driver of your car for example. BTW this info can be retrieved from the car's "black box" with software and cables (which Tesla has made available but it's quite expensive and probably only used by crash investigators or such and not for one-time retrival in general).

I have heard in the press--I think and just recently, not sure if true, that Tesla does save the TeslaCam footage by your car ID number for a limited time on their servers. Don't remember where I read it or as I said if true. I'm guessing this is what you are referrring to. It's possible the person you spoke to isn't aware of the difference. I haven't heard anything about how it gets released but I think you want to call "somebody" and have that footage saved. Who or what department you ask for I haven't seen mentioned anywhere I've read.

On second thought perhaps what I read was about if Sentry Mode was on and you didn’t have a USB device in your car, that the footage during any Alarm notification would be temporarily saved on their servers by your car ID #. Sorry I don’t have a better recollection of this.

BTW sorry this happened to your girlfriend. Must have been very frightening when she saw the deer jump out. Glad she wasn't seriously injured. Sorry about your car too. Was it just the side airbags that deployed or were others involved?

 

[commasign]

He said it is his car driven by his girlfriend.

Ah, you're right. Misread that.