Bumped, Bruised Tesla

[oliver2-44 9,848]

So this was my 3rd morning driving in booming Austin’s morning traffic. My elderly Mom just had a Pacemaker installed at the cities speciality Heart Hospital .  Last night great grandson asked if his electric grandma now had a Lithium or Energizer battery.  

As I pulled onto the crowded 4 lane wide cross town freeway a Tesla with California plates and the drivers head in a iPad across her steering wheel went by.  I truly remember my mind saying to avoid her!  About 5 miles down the road in heavy stop and go traffic I got a mild bump from the rear. Got out and somehow the same Tesla ended up behind me. My trucks trailer hitch ball was embedded in the flexible plastic front of her electric Tesla. She stepped out with iPad in hand and apologized, saying something about her automatic braking didn’t stop her. I had no apparent damage but took a picture of vehicles and her drivers license. 
Before I retired I would end up in Austin once a week or so.  But now there sure are a lot more out of state license plates and expensive Tesla’s these days. Mom goes to rehab/home tomorrow and no more Austin driving for awhile.  

 

[ri702bill 8,481]

Only an idiot relies on auto braking to adjust the pace in highway traffic... surprised she did not go all "Karen" on you whining what YOUR car did to hers.......

Had something similar happen 20 years ago in heavy Friday afternoon local traffic. A guy rear ended my old Ranger - no damage to my truck, but the hitch & ball rode up over his bumper as he braked hard, the nose dived on his car & took out the center of his car grille. He started to whine about the damage to the car -I told him my neck "hurt"... Twenty seconds later I got an apology and he booted... The car was his wife's - he was going to report it "stolen"!!!!  I did not see any reason to hang around either....

Edited July 2 by ri702bill

[8ntruck 7,079]

Hope your mom's recovery goes well.  

 

I've madd a couple trips to Houston.  I did notice lots of Teslas on the road there.  After about three days there, I was more than ready to leave just to not have to deal with the morning and afternoon rush traffic.

 

All of the driver aids showing up on the newer vehicles seem to me to be a double edged sword.  They are a good thing when used by a driver that pays attention to driving.  They also encourage some drivers to think that the car is going to take care of them while they do something other than drive.  

 

Sorry that you ran across one of the later types of drivers.

[953 nut 55,739]

2 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

. My trucks trailer hitch ball was embedded in the flexible plastic front of her electric Tesla

Glad you and your mom weren't hurt. Distracted driving is getting worse the more "Safety" devices they put on cars. People don't think the have to pay attention any more. Lucky the Tesla didn't catch fire.     Did the collision actuate the air bags on her car?

Several years ago we were stopped at a red light behind a couple of other cars. As the cross traffic cleared the two cars ahead of us made right turns on red and I proceeded to the light and stopped. The girl in a Saturn (plastic body car) behind us was busy texting and glanced up, saw we had moved and floored it. Unfortunately for her we were still stopped at the red light.     The front of her car went under out Reese Hitch and it became embedded in her hood. The broken radiator gave our car a good steam bath underneath.

The girl's father arrived at about the same time as the tow truck and he wanted me to "drive off of her car that I had wrecked"         The policeman calmed him down as he was writing her a couple of expensive tickets. Eventually the tow truck operator ran chains to my rear axle and lifted out SUV enough  to put blocks under the rear wheels and then pull the Saturn out from under ours. The only damage to ours was the plastic bumper cover but there sure was a lot of traffic backed up while all of this was going on all because she was texting rather than paying attention.