The exterior cameras of a Tesla Model 3 have captured the moment the EV was rear-ended by a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye.
These videos were shared online by noted Tesla hacker greentheonly and filmed somewhere in the United States, although it’s unclear exactly where the incident occurred. While the crash was bad, things could have been much worse.
One of the rear-facing cameras on the front-quarter panel of the Model 3 captured the best view of the crash. It shows the Tesla creeping to a stop on a busy freeway when a dark red Dodge Challenger suddenly comes into view. The Dodge hits the rear-quarter panel of the Model 3, causing significant damage to both vehicles.
Watch Also: Dodge Challenger Slams Into Another Car While Racing Tesla Model 3 On Freeway
Still images taken right after the impact show that the front quarter panel of the Challenger took the brunt of the impact. Damage was also done to its hood and front bumper. It’s a little harder to determine the extent of the damage suffered to the Tesla, but it seems one of the rear quarter panels was crumpled in the crash and, according to greentheonly, one of the rear wheels may have also been smashed and pushed out of position.
The front-facing dashcam of the Tesla doesn’t provide us with a different look of the accident but does confirm that the driver of the Model 3 didn’t perform any sudden braking maneuvers that may have confused the driver of the Dodge. Instead, it appears as though the crash was simply triggered by the driver of the Challenger not paying attention to the traffic ahead. At least they managed to swerve to the right, somewhat mitigating the extent of the impact.
Typical human precision at its finest, I guess?
Sometimes you just can't do anything about the upcoming accident it seems.
Not on autopilot (obviously)#TeslaCrashFootage pic.twitter.com/KT39uONRl3
— green (@greentheonly) February 12, 2021
it's not a sudden stop as you can see. just a line at a traffic light to turn left pic.twitter.com/89wkhlBRKh
— green (@greentheonly) February 12, 2021