Getting hit in a head-on crash is nasty enough to deal with. But now imagine your own car then starting to accelerate out of nowhere, ramming the other driver and nearly putting you in a ditch. It sounds wild, but that’s exactly what one man says happened to his Tesla Model 3 when it was hit by a Jeep earlier this month.
Radu Stefan was driving his Tesla Model 3 towards the intersection of Lee Canyon Road and Deer Creek Road in Nevada on July 7. As he approached, a white 2024 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon rounded the corner at high speed, visibly out of control. The Jeep understeered, winding up in Radu’s lane and slamming hard into the front of his vehicle.
You might have expected both parties to stop and assess the damage. Instead, Radu told media that his vehicle malfunctioned immediately after the impact, driving itself forward in an erratic, uncontrolled fashion. In the video we see the Tesla lurches forward, ramming the Jeep before it narrowly avoids veering off the road. “It was like a horror movie,” Stefan told KSNV News 3. As his vehicle lurched away from the crash, it nearly climbed an incline, then veered towards a steep drop-off on the side of the road.
Stefan says he was only able to stop the vehicle by repeatedly pumping the brakes. After he regained control, he reversed back to the intersection where the initial impact occurred. However, upon returning to the scene, he said, he found the Jeep had left.
The incident has left Stefan severely out of pocket. He told News 3 that the repair bill for his vehicle is in the realm of $15,000 to $20,000. With only liability coverage on his vehicle, his insurance will not cover the repairs, he told the news site.
As shown in his YouTube video description, Stefan is presently seeking the help of the community to track down the owners of the Jeep involved in the crash. The occupants of the Jeep are readily visible in the captured footage. However, the Jeep had no front plate, and the cameras on Stefan’s Tesla didn’t capture a clear shot of the rear.
Nevada law requires most vehicles to display both front and rear plates at all times, barring trailers and motorcycles. The only exception is for vehicles that were not designed for a front plate. The Jeep Wrangler does not fit under this exception, though it’s unclear where the vehicle was registered.
The owner, Radu Stefan, tells me the car malfunctioned after the crash and started driving. There is extensive damage to the front.
He was able to stop the car by pumping the breaks, but it veered off the road. He says by the time he had control, the Jeep drove away. pic.twitter.com/dXBQFbP3Ps
— Cristen Drummond (@CristenDrummond) July 13, 2024
The video has led to widespread speculation on Twitter and beyond. Some allege that the Tesla didn’t malfunction, and that instead, Stefan may have accidentally pressed the throttle instead of the brake. It’s worth noting that Tesla has dealt with unintended acceleration cases before. Barring the recent kerfuffle with the Cybertruck, the NHTSA has previously determined most are the result of user error, not a malfunction. With that said, the agency did recently reopen its investigation concerning sudden unintended acceleration in Tesla vehicles in June last year.
As for the Jeep driver, their identity remains a mystery. Some contemplated the driver fled out of guilt, others suggesting it was out of fear after the Tesla rammed the Jeep. In any case, it appears the driver has yet to come forward to authorities at this stage. The Autopian has contacted Stefan and Nevada State Police for information as to the current state of the matter.
Stefan’s Tesla captured the incident from multiple angles.
Ultimately, this was clearly a harrowing and confusing crash for all involved. A head-on collision is ugly enough without all the ramming and shoving afterwards. Stefan was also lucky to not end up with his Tesla rolling down an embankment immediately afterwards. Here’s hoping the Jeep owner identifies themselves so this matter can be brought to a swift and proper close.
Image credits: Radu Stefan via YouTube screenshot
In addition to the Jeep driver being at fault for the initial crash, my guess is after the investigation is done, the root cause of the ‘Tesla going haywire) will be found to be “defective user”, who in a state of shock, got the gas and brake pedal mixed up.
This is likely
See: Audi unintended acceleration
See Also: my mom driving her station wagon though the garage wall.
I would tend to agree with the unintended acceleration claims, but if that were the case wouldn’t he have just gone halfway up the side of the mountain? Someone or something was steering the car.
The proof being in the data Tesla has showing whether or not that happened.
2024 Wrangler Rubicon with the 392… can’t be too many of those registered in Nevada yet.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this but is it possible that’s a student driver with her dad in the Jeep? It doesn’t excuse running off after the collision though, just moves the blame from the driver to the “dad” if that’s the case.
That could be, would help explain the horrendous driving on the part of the Jeep. If that’s the dad in the passenger seat, deciding to get the hell out of there for his daughter’s safety once the car she hit started ramming them in apparent retaliation was maybe a sensible move. But, that’s undone by not calling the police afterwards
The Wrangler is clearly at fault here. But, if I was the driver of it my first thought would be that the Tesla was fleeing the scene and possibly stolen.
This whole event is 100% on the Jeep owner, regardless of any damage the Tesla did after the initial, causal, incident.
Zero chance the Jeep’s insurance will cover all the damage, after they see this footage.
If that Jeep had stayed in their lane, this would have never happened. That said, you’re probably right. Not sure how you would prove anything without vehicle logs.
I agree, the Jeep is completely at fault. But it isn’t going to be possible to determine how much of the damage is from the Jeep’s actions vs the Tesla later ramming it.
Respectfully disagree. Insurance will pay out here.
Never killed a Tesla before, but have done some real damage, and always was paid for despite less than good choices on my part.
Cheaper to pay off a claim than to be tied up in litigation for years. YMMV?
I can’t believe the insurance companies are suing each other over every single accident. That would be the inefficient process in the world.
They sue each other so much that they know what a certain type of accident / plaintiff is worth in court.
They can predict what you’ll settle for within a few hundred dollars.
While the Wrangler is responsible and should have their insurance pay….
But he owns a Tesla. Why isn’t full coverage something you’d get? Does he have FSD and think that means you can skimp out on insurance?! Like, I don’t understand.
Seriously, having liability only these days is just asking for it, especially if you’re driving anything above a beater.
Yeah, always have comprehensive coverage on any vehicle where losing it would warrant more than just a shrug and “oh, well”
Even my old XJ’s that I wheeled had at least comp because I’d be pissed if it got stolen. If I screwed it up, thats on me.
That’s why I have comprehensive on mine despite having a hidden kill switch. They’re theft targets around here, and of course it’ll be the one time I forget to flip that switch when I’m grabbing groceries. I also have all my modifications listed on my policy so I can get some compensation for all the work I’ve put into it.
Exactly. The difference in cost for full coverage on my ride is only 40 bucks more a year. But my car is also 15 years old so there’s that.
Or one tank of gas. Easy choice.
For reasons I do not know, I had left my 1972 Super Beetle, my pride and joy, on a liability only policy for over a decade. After seeing pictures of an accident an online friend had with his Karmann Ghia, I got a policy through Hagerty. It took maybe 10 minutes, all online, and I even got to set the value of my car. I was approved on the spot. This video makes me glad I did.
I ran Hagerty stated value policies on my last XJ and now my Miata. Exactly what I want as an enthusiast.
I appreciate that they have an option that, in the event of a total loss, you get your full payout and get to keep the car.
Yeah, while I feel bad for him that he got hit, he gambled by under-insuring himself and lost. I still carry collision coverage on my truck that’s worth like $5 grand.
FSD in this case calculated the danger from the Jeep, panicked, went into fight-or-flight mode, then attempted to flee in a random direction.
Not sure what to say about this:
Jeep driver obviously sucks at basic driving. Fleeing a suspected road rager – likely in bounds but you need to report it.
Tesla driver owning a valuable car without Collison Insurance – WTF???? As for the specific throttle inputs, the black box knows all. Throttle misapplication in a panic situation? Legitimate computer/software error? The box knows all.
Insure your cars people, last vehicle I didn’t have collision on was a scabrous ’89 Cherokee I bought for 1000 bucks as a winter beater 22 years ago. If you’re not willing to throw it away after a crash, insure it.
Were they impaired and fleeing a DUI charge as well?
If he finds the Jeep, how does he prove what damage was caused by the first collision?
Seems like the video shows two collisions after the first one. The Jeep’s insurance company is going to blame the damage on the second and third incidents and this guy still won’t be able to fix his Tesla.
I don’t care if the Jeep driver thought the Tesla was intentionally ramming them. They still were the cause of all that mess and they could’ve at least had to common courtesy and decency to hang around to determine if the guy THEY HIT was ok.
In other news, water is wet and people suck.
The Tesla took off down the road after ramming them twice? I’d get out of there too.
I think if I were a terrible driver who veered into another lane and hit a car that rammed me again repeatedly and then drove off into the woods – and my vehicle was not to damaged beyond my ability to drive away – I’d leave too.
What – I’m supposed to wait around for a weirdo to come back and murder me with his self-driving vehicle?
Yeah, but only drive to safety, then call & report the incident
Why? You were at fault for an accident, then were absolved by the fleeing guy who must have had something to fear from the police.
I have loved ones who drive on public roads. Sure, my Jeep-driving arse hit someone—but that someone then slammed into me twice, then fled through the woods. I’m calling that shit in cause he could kill somebody in that state of mind. I’ll take my lumps for my bad driving initially.
I hear you, but the police are not going to catch the guy if they even bother looking at all.
In my accounting, I’d be out the hassle of dealing with the cops and now have to deal with insurance. I’m try to avoid frustrating situations, and this sounds like a full-on sprint towards frustration.
I have to choose between blaming a Tesla owner or a Tesla vehicle?
I’ll pass.
How y’all feeling about the new steer-by-wire feature in the Cybertruck?
Yeah, I totally believe that the Tesla “malfunctioned” in exactly the same way that an angry and psychotic person stupid enough both to buy a Tesla and not insure it would.
Also if I’m the Jeep driver, I gtfo after that guy rams me and takes off.
The Gospel according to Luke…7/15/24
And you are looking at this situation correctly.
A true Jesus take the wheel moment here.
Only liability on a Tesla. I don’t care if it’s fully paid off that is cuckoo crazypants territory.
If it’s at an age where collision insurance isn’t worth it to the owner, it’s probably a total loss with this damage.
That jeep was coming in hot surprised it didn’t sustain more damage then it did and its air bags didn’t go off. But yeah I wonder if this is a situation of panic and forgetting where the break pedal is? Especially with one pedal driving maybe the Tesla driver was so used to that he rarely used the brakes and forgot?
Yeah, this sounds likely, somehow it feels like if this was an electrical or software malfunction, he wouldn’t have been able to regain control using the method he did
I was once in a fender bender that resulted in a broken throttle linkage that jammed open. Somehow I kept enough presence of mind to quickly turn off the ignition but I could have easily panicked and gone careening through a field.
Honest question here, because I’ve never driven one (or even ridden in one), how DO you shut off a Tesla? Or any other electric car?
All I’m saying is this happened to me once. I’m not suggesting this is what they should have done, as if they had time to think, or anything like that.
I didn’t mean to imply you were throwing any kind of shade at the Tesla driver. I just think it brings up a good point. Flipping they keys off is … Well was actually … A universal off switch for an ICE vehicle. What is the on/off procedure for an electric car? I have no idea, but I bet it’s not standardized.
Sorry I read sarcasm. You know, internet. I think a lot of them probably don’t even have an on/off switch at all. Remember the VW commercial where the man made the kid laugh because every time he got in the car it automatically turned on and the radio played? There is a battery disconnect for the fire department and I bet that’s standardized, though.
Totally understandable.
Also, I freaking HATE that commercial! Now I have another reason to have that VW! No way to shut it off if it goes haywire!
Maybe carry an emergency bottle of salt water to pour behind the dash. There has to be something. Maybe pulling the e-brake.
The undoubtedly electronically operated e-brake!
Kinda like the salt water idea, but results may vary 🙂
The Jeep was probably an out of state car and beat feet back over the border after what could be interpreted as an act of road rage by the Tesla driver. Checking insurance claims filed by Jeep owners in adjacent states (assuming they had insurance) will probably identify the driver, but the police are unlikely to do this because it’s a pain the ass and costs money, which leaves it up to Tesla Radu’s insurance company and since they aren’t out any money, they won’t likely pursue either.
Hopefully they find the Jeep owners, that’s some properly shit driving on their count. But also some crazy scary stuff from the Tesla, I can understand those pointing out they may have felt in danger, but they also should have called the police to report the accident once they felt they reached safety. And the Tesla owner is pretty dumb to only have liability on something as stupid expensive to repair (really all modern vehicles are but Teslas are literally the worst sub supercars) as a Tesla. A whole mountain of dumb! But a car being able to be damaged and then attempt to drive its self is probably the dumbest scariest part…
I find it really weird that the car would try to drive its self a after a accident though. I really doubt Tesla doesn’t have some type of function in place that disables all self driving features in the event of an accident or damaged sensors if they don’t just seems like a giant lawsuit waiting to happen.
Any other manufacturer I would agree but Tesla has proven it tends to prefer the lawsuits.
WTH? Not carrying collision/comprehensive on a expensive to repair car?!? That’s the definition of penny-wise, dollar foolish. Must have bought the car for cash since any insurer in NY requires a lienholder to carry full coverage on a car with a lien on it.
My bet is the driver also disabled a lot of the safety settings like object-aware acceleration and accidentally hit the accelerator after the crash. Teslas are well known for assisting drivers in evasive maneuvers and stopping post-crash.
You’d be surprised how many people will finance a car and then drop their insurance later while they still have plenty of payments left…
That’s nuttier than squirrel poo. Makes zero sense. Have a by definition expensive car and only bare-bones insurance without being able to self-insure.
Yes, Teslas are cheap to charge if it can be done at home. But those savings are definitely wiped out by not having full coverage on a vehicle where most collision repairs are five figures.
Its Nevada. The whole state is built on a mountain of bad bets.
You mean people lose money gambling? I thought it was all tuxedos and martinis.
I suppose that depends on whether the monies lost by the tuxedo and martini crowd belonged to someone else.
Only losers do. I’m a winner baby!
The house always wins. Unless it’s the House of You-Know-Who.
Gotta hand it to him. The Law of Mathematics has nothing on him.
Vegas sure is! The Strip didn’t get glitzy from the generosity of business people.
There are other, non casino economies in Nevada too of course. At least one is always a sure thing but also a gamble with plenty of regrets.
It sure looks like, from the Jeep perspective, that the Tesla rammed them and then fled the scene. Yeah, they should have called the cops. And maybe they did. But I don’t really blame them for leaving.
That’s very much how I saw it.
If I were in the Jeep and this happened, I would assume that guy was fleeing. I would then carry on and repair my own vehicle.
We have all seen countless videos of people that drive through a store front, over a parking curb then down some hill. It seems in each case the driver says there was a malfunction and the car accelerated on its own. The NTSB found in a 2015 study that “The NHTSA estimates 16,000 accidents per year in the United States occur when drivers intend to apply the brake but mistakenly apply the accelerator” I’m putting my money on driver error where the Tesla driver got confused after the crash and hit the accelerator instead of the brake.
I get why the Jeep owner fled after the Tesla rammed into it AFTER the crash. But in a situation like this, you go right to a police station and report what happened.
I gotta believe with video this clear, of both the vehicle and the occupants, the cops will find these perps.
Why would you go to the police for this?
You caused a collision that was your fault. Then the guy runs off, indicating that he shouldn’t have even been on the road (stolen car, no license, no insurance, drunk, transporting drugs, whatever…). I would take it as a wash and get on with my life.
I’m going to spend hours at the police station ratting myself out and hoping I’m ratting the other guy out more?
I mean, it’s not the most ethical thing but you could go to the police and say the other guy hit you and ran off. Then you can at least get insurance to help.
That is less ethical than just getting on with your day and fixing it out of pocket.
It’s also more hassle and can get you busted for insurance fraud.
You would take $15k in damage “as a wash” and move on? That is financially ruinous for like 75 percent of the population.
I would assume that guy had more than $15k worth of other problems to keep away from the police, and I’m not chasing or tracking down the guy who rammed me out of the way to flee an accident that was not his fault.
I’m sorry, but even the cheapest Model 3 around is still somewhere in the low 20k range, and he doesn’t even carry comprehensive coverage? This is absolutely wild to me. Comprehensive vehicle insurance has always been explained to me as “if you can’t afford to lose the car outright, you can’t afford to NOT carry comprehensive coverage”.
This is especially true when it’s commonly known now that EVs, and Teslas in particular, are extremely expensive to repair compared to similarly priced ICE vehicles, which are getting more expensive to repair in their own right. I get it, insurance has gotten more expensive recently, but if you genuinely can’t afford comprehensive insurance on a 25k car, then buy a 15k car and get better insurance. There is no reality where someone genuinely NEEDS a Tesla Model 3, when a used Camry will do just as well for less money, and likely be cheaper to insure.
Collision insurance is what you’re describing I think.
I’ve filed comprehensive claims for stuff like hitting a deer or a branch falling on my parked truck in an ice storm. Collision for impacts with other vehicles.
Your point is correct though.
Yeah that’s probably it, I’ve heard comprehensive described differently since this is technically a no-fault accident I’m not sure if that would be standard collision or fall into the “theft, hit-and-run, vandalism” category. Regardless, insurance of all kinds in the US is pretty obtuse and intentionally confusing. Not having full coverage gives me too much anxiety about the idiots on the road.
I guess having crash-and-carry insurance on a really expensive car is a bad decision.
I’ll go out on a wire and say this dude hit the gas or has some crap in the footwell that pressed the accelerator.
I’m an old fart and called it “gas”. What a moron I am.
In my book “gas pedal” is grandfathered in the same way “dialing” a phone is.
Roll down those windows, while you’re at it.
“I got that on film!”
Let’s go to the video tape.
Don’t forget to rewind it!
Yes, how far from my apartment in the Sears Tower to the White Sox game at Comiskey Park?
He hit the electricity.
No he hit the Wrangler.
Nope. I’ll stick to cars that can’t drive themselves in any capacity, thanks. Being stuck in a car veering towards a drop off is nightmarish, indeed.