Tesla

Most American guardrails simply are not tested for the extra weight of electric cars. This may pose a safety risk when there is a car accident involving a electric vehicles crashing into a guardrail.

According to CBS News, these safety concerns are valid because the strength of guardrails on American roads are typically tested against vehicles that weigh approximately 5000 pounds. However, the average electric vehicle weighs approximately 30% more. This deficiency in testing standards is possibly posing a risk of serious personal injury to drivers and passengers in electric cars.

Recently, a fatal car accident involved a Tesla that crashed through a guardrail. The resulting car accident left the motorist dead and the car completely mangled. According to safety experts, these guardrails are not doing a good enough job of restraining electric vehicles compared to gasoline – powered vehicles. The guardrails are tested against gasoline -powered vehicles, and unfortunately, electric – powered vehicles that are involved in collisions against guardrails simply crash through or even crash under the guardrail. Tests involving concrete medians that were slammed into by electric power vehicles found that even in those cases where the car did not crash through the median and end up in the opposing lane, large chunks of concrete did go flying through the air and into the path of oncoming cars.

Tesla is probably the best known for the various high-tech systems in its automobiles many of which can help a driver avoid being in an accident. However, one newly-introduced feature most likely has the opposite effect. A recent but little-known feature in Tesla vehicles allows occupants, including passengers, to play in-car video games in full view of the driver.

Motorists as well as passengers can play one of several popular video games while the car is in operation. The kind of distraction that this poses to the driver cannot be overstated. Tesla has been under scrutiny for the safety of its tech systems, including the auto drive systems that allow the car to be operated without the motorist placing his hands on the steering wheel, for several months now. Tesla is also under a federal investigation regarding accidents involving its cars that have resulted in several deaths. Since 2016, more than ten people have died in accidents that were caused when the Tesla cars crashed while in auto pilot mode. Unfortunately, Tesla has not been able to come up with a fool-proof system that will prompt the driver to keep his eyes on the road while the car is being operated automatically.

The risk of accidents involving these cars has been the subject of federal probes for serval months now, and the introduction of this new feature that allows occupants to play video games while driving the car has federal agencies even more concerned. Regulators at the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is currently leading the safety probe into Tesla models, have asked the automaker for more information about the video game features in its cars.

Articles Tagged with Tesla

Safety Concerns over Electric Cars and Guardrails

Video Games Add to the Distraction Factor in Tesla Models