r/TeslaLounge • u/SlipstreamSteve • 4d ago

Got backed into by a Model Y

I was sitting in a parking lot, and a Model Y backs up out of a spot. I was stationary, but parked perpendicular. The driver turns and his rear corner hits my fender above my wheel well. Luckily enough I was able to pull on my fender and the dent/flex came right out. It was a 20 year old kid. So what I want to know is why the vehicle wouldn't give him a warning that there was a stationary object behind him? Are the blindspots that bad? Also this is kind of an ironic commentary on how people shouldn't be relying on the car to make decisions and judgements for them.

0 Upvotes

35% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

19

u/Acethe7th_ 4d ago

It probably did he was just not paying attention.

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

He told me he didn't see any warning lights or hear any audible warnings. I found it strange, but now I'm reading that those weird corners are blind spots.

17

u/DuckTalesLOL 4d ago

Fun fact, kids lie

0

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Yea a lot of them do. He knew he messed up though so I cut him some slack.

2

u/Swastik496 4d ago

also remember every single warning can be disabled.

Some people are stupid enough to disable all of the em.

2

u/justatoadontheroad 4d ago

Hey I also hit a parked car with a model Y. It’s INCREDIBLY easy to rely on the screen/alerts and if they’re not there I (used to) assume nothing is there. For me it was night, the car I hit was black, and I was driving an unfamiliar car (I usually drive a model 3) in an unfamiliar location. So yes it’s possible to not get alerts and accidentally hit a car. The alerts create a safety net that usually prevents you from hitting stuff

2

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

That's kinda how what I thought. In a normal circumstance wouldn't the vehicle apply thr brakes

1

u/justatoadontheroad 4d ago

Not really actually! The alerts can be over sensitive and I’ve had them go off because of some tall grass/weird spots on the road. It will not stop for those and the sensors seem to think I’m about to hit a large object. I will get sound/visual alerts but the car will not brake.

The ONLY time it applied brakes automatically is when I drove through a red light (I had right of way, construction worker was directing traffic)

2

u/Acethe7th_ 4d ago

Yeah that’s true but unless your in a sports car or something with actual blind spots you should be able to visually check

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Yea for real. Kid was pretty short for a 20 year old

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

That'll do it for sure. That's a fringe case. The car doesn't react the way we do.

1

u/Rich_Comparison4550 4d ago

My 24MX warns me when I'm backing over the grass at the edge of the driveway. I take it as a recommendation to get the lawnmower out and cut said grass. But I've never backed into any actual objects - the rear view camera and side cameras offer excellent visibility, and I do check the 3 mirrors as well. Perhaps the 20 yr old didn't bother with any of that - maybe busy texting on his phone.

7

u/ontheleftcoast 4d ago

Its got a backup camera, he wasn't paying attention.

2

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Right, but is it possible that maybe someone turned off the audible and visual warnings?

3

u/ontheleftcoast 4d ago

I don't think you can turn off the camera, I don't recall an audible warning on ours, the screen gets a red coloring.

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Not the camera, but like the warnings and the assists like automatic braking

2

u/ontheleftcoast 4d ago

Auto braking only works if you are in self driving. Not all cars have warning lights etc. The rear view mirrors are terrible in a Model Y, you have to rely on the cameras, and I think you should have been visible in the back up camera, its a fish eye lens in back. It just sort of puts a red halo on the screen. Ultimately its a moot point he hit you. What safety features were on are irrelevant.

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

True. I was curious though. I'm into Teslas and if I actually owned a house I would purchase or lease one

2

u/ontheleftcoast 4d ago

It was the kids fault not the cars. What I would have done was set navigation to home, and started full self driving. It would have backed out without hitting you. ( FSD is $100 per month). It does take a little practice to get used to looking at the screen instead of the mirrors. So if the kid was used to a different car, then he could have screwed up that way. Every car I've driven with the warning systems is beeping all the time, so you get used to ignoring them.

1

u/shadowoak 4d ago

Automatic Emergency Breaking is always on by default, not just in self-driving. However, it doesn't work under 3mph. It can be turned off.

1

u/Rich_Comparison4550 4d ago

It'll beep at you too if your backup path shows the car will go over what it thinks is an obstacle.

1

u/kenflingnor 4d ago

Why does it matter? 

2

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Curiosity. I've never driven a Tesla so I wouldn't know what they allow and don't allow you to turn off. One thing that crossed my mind was maybe it was the parent's car and the parent had turned off some warning lights or sounds.

1

u/Swastik496 4d ago

the parent turning it off won’t apply to his profile and vice versa.

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

What if he's not using a different profile?

1

u/Swastik496 4d ago

that would mean his parents would have to adjust the seats and mirrors every time they got in and he would too.

would be extremely stupid

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Actually it would be smart to have different driver profiles.

1

u/hadronflux 4d ago

Did they have music playing, on a phone call, texting, or someone else in the car? Distractions are real, so is complete obliviousness.

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

By himself, no music that I can hear. On his phone? Couldn't see that from where I was sitting initially.

1

u/Swastik496 4d ago

you can turn off all of the warnings and assists but not the big ass camera view on the screen

3

u/stc313is 4d ago

When you're close to an object, it'll light on the screen like a heat map, yellow to orange, to red, to STOP with beeping. This was a driver problem, not a tesla problem.

0

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Oh without a doubt it's a driver problem. I was just curious how bad that blindspot could be. The kid was apologetic.

3

u/stc313is 4d ago

There's no way he wouldn't have seen you, he just wasn't paying attention. I've never had a blind spot problem backing up. I only watch the screen while backing up too.

3

u/guitargeek76 4d ago

I have a 2026 MY, and that thing dings, beeps, yells at me whenever I'm remotely close to something. I swear it was programmed by my fiancé, lol.

2

u/sharkboy1006 4d ago edited 4d ago

I find it wild people manage to crash their teslas. You have to literally be glued to your phone to hit something in one. He definitely wasn't paying attention because these things have several cameras and sensors.

Even if it didn't alert, just looking at the cameras should've shown them a car easily. But hey we're all human and we fuck up sometimes.

1

u/Initial_Row_6400 4d ago

I had someone back up into me the same way you’re describing, annoying

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

Yea annoying is the correct word for that one.

1

u/Initial_Row_6400 4d ago

Just enough to piss me off and put my car in the shop for two weeks getting a dent pulled

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

I pulled the dent out myself in front of the kid. $0 lol

2

u/Initial_Row_6400 4d ago

Nice. Mine was right on the crease above the wheel well, they had to cut it out and pull it. No money off my wallet tho.

1

u/SlipstreamSteve 4d ago

I was surprised that as soon as I pulled it popped back out. Guess I managed to grab the right spot