Consumers seem to be aware of the sheer safety of driving a Tesla, but we hope none of them have to put that to the test. Fortunately, when tested, it has held up and saved many peoples’ lives.
Saturday night, Tesla owner Jen Dunlap was driving a Model 3 on the highway and was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in a truck, as reported by Teslarati. Despite both vehicles going over 70 miles per hour (112 km/h), Dunlap survived and is okay.
Dunlap is a frequent contributor to and member of the Tesla Columbus Ohio Owners Club, who shared the news on Sunday.
Last night our member @JenDunlap_ & her friend got hit by a drunk driver. They got hit HEAD ON by a wrong way driver (truck) on a highway, both going 70 mph +. Jen credits @elonmusk, @Tesla & her Model 3 for saving her life! @CARandDRIVER @teslaownersSV @Teslarati @ElectrekCo pic.twitter.com/BlvAofxmy1
— Tesla Owners Columbus, OH (@TeslaOwnersCbus) October 12, 2020
Glad Jen is safe!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2020
Tesla CEO Elon Musk personally replied to the tweet to say, “Glad Jen is safe!”.
While Tesla’s Autopilot scored all but flawlessly on a recent European assessment, it was primarily in the driver engagement category. However, when it comes to simply safety in driving, the company’s cars are known for being incredibly safe, and they’re improving quarter over quarter too.
Fortunately, Dunlap only walked away with a broken rib and a sprained ankle, although the crash could have been much worse. There was also a passenger in the vehicle who remains in the hospital but is also doing alright.
The Model 3 is very, very safe. Back in October 2018, Tesla explained, “we engineered Model 3 to be the safest car ever built. Now, not only has Model 3 achieved a perfect 5-star safety rating in every category and sub-category, but NHTSA’s tests also show that it has the lowest probability of injury of all cars the safety agency has ever tested.”
Having announced a limited beta for its full self-driving feature starting next week, Tesla knows the safety of its vehicles is a relevant topic. And this story proved it’s no myth, yet again.
