‘Save clips on honk’ function records a flying hammer hitting Model 3 windshield
While driving on the highway, a Tesla Model 3 was hit by a flying hammer that came out of an SUV cruising ahead in the far left lane, the hammer smashed into the windshield but was not able to penetrate it, hence no vehicle occupant was harmed in this incident.
Tesla Model 3 has won numerous safety awards around the globe including 5-stars from NHTSA in the USA, 5-stars from both EURO NCAP and Australian ANCAP safety ratings, the windscreen in this event showed the toughness that should be expected from a car manufacturer’s product.
The video clip of this unexpected scene was recorded using a new feature named ‘Save Dashcam Clips on Honk’ that Tesla introduced in their latest over-the-air (OTA) software update 2019.40.50, this feature has started coming handy almost instantly, now it will be easier for the owner to claim insurance for the Model 3 windshield replacement cost.
The owner of the affected Model 3 shared the following pictures of the windshield after getting hit by the hammer from the outside and in, clearly it would have been brutal if it had penetrated the vehicle cabin, thanks to Tesla’s proprietary glass (pics via Tesla Revolution YouTube Channel, click/tap to zoom-in).
Update: Tesla Revolution channel has updated us that the speed of the Model 3 at the time was 90 km/h (~56 mph).
As suggested in the video above, Tesla owners should always keep a large enough USB drive or better yet a solid-state drive (SSD) with good enough storage to capture the Sentry Mode events and unforeseen events like this flying hammer hitting your car at highway speeds.
In the past a Tesla Model X was also hit by a flying rod that came out of where and at that time the iron rod was also not able to smash through the window to enter the passenger cabin, sure Teslas are real built-tough.
If a Tesla Model 3 and Model X can bear such damage and keeping the occupants safe, the Cybertruck glass will be much much better and tougher than this, the incident at the Cybertruck unveil event happened due to several factors taking place before the event.
Meanwhile, in China, a Tesla Model 3 was involved in a multi-car pile up and a Toyota SUV just ran over the roof of Model 3 but the glass roof was able to bear this much weight which shows how strong the Tesla glass roof is. The Model 3 driver was able to easily get out of the car unscathed and walk away on foot as we can see in the following video, car safety at its best!
More photos below
— 特拉风🇨🇳T☰SLA mania (@Tesla__Mania) December 29, 2019
BTW this serious accident happened in Guangdong China.
Thanks to the hard work and brilliant design of @Tesla and @elonmusk, the Tesla driver seemed to have walked right out of the Model 3 unharmed. pic.twitter.com/xkQxOoao8G
OPRCE
Posted at 16:16h, 02 JanuaryThere’s no evidence the hammer came from the SUV: in fact if you watch the video carefully in exploded view from 0:35, advancing frame-wise using . key (and , to reverse) … then you will see the front left wheel of the Taxi hits something lying on the road, kicking it up underneath the body where it is accelerated by more impacts as it bounces along, before emerging out the back to do several further rolls before hopping up to perfectly nail the Tesla windscreen.
So it was a freak accident with no malicious intent by anyone here!
Ed Sneebly
Posted at 14:13h, 10 JanuaryIf it came accidentally, then it came from the white utility van. It went under the beemer then under the taxi who gave it wings and then SMASHO.
Iqtidar Ali
Posted at 14:24h, 10 JanuaryYep, that’s what happened most probably!