A groom almost missed his wedding when a car smashed into his vehicle the night before the big day, but the Tesla Model X he was driving saved his life.
The groom is a Tesla automation consultant and he rented a Tesla Model X for his big day. The night before the wedding, however, as he was leaving the rehearsal dinner, a stolen vehicle ran into his Tesla in a violent side-impact collision. The stolen vehicle had a speed of more than 65 miles per hour and smashed right into the driver's door of the Tesla Model X.
The driver described his experience on the Teslarati forums under the username "QwicksilverA4," noting that he wouldn't be alive today were it not for the Tesla Model X.
Tesla Model X Saves Driver's Life In Violent Collision
"I want to share with you, Tesla, and Mr. Elon Musk my experience with Tesla Motors," he starts out. "Through my testimony, I can truly say that Tesla's cars are well-built, perfectly designed, and extremely safe."
The lucky groom, who identified himself as Mr. Tran to Mashable, highlights that as an automation controls consultant for Tesla, he was able to witness firsthand just how well Tesla vehicles are designed. He works directly with the Tesla engineers working on the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 lines and he's a big fan, but he didn't imagine that a Tesla car would one day save his life, protecting him in what could have been a fatal car accident.
As he started making a left turn to exit the parking lot after leaving the rehearsal dinner, he noticed a silver vehicle approaching the driver's side of the car at fast speed, which later turned out to be more than 60 mph. The other driver came from a blind spot and Tran had no time to react, so he could not avoid the impact.
The other car was a stolen Honda Civic and its driver was blazing to escape the police when he crashed into the Model X, sending the all-electric SUV 20 feet away from its starting point.
In the violent impact, the Tesla Model X deployed all of its 12 airbags, leaving the driver in shock. The door was jammed from the collision, so the driver had to kick it open to exit the vehicle.
"The silver car was a mess, but the Model X only suffered a broken axel and bent wheel," he recalls.
Tesla Model X: Safety First Design Pays Off
Were it some other vehicle instead of the Tesla Model X, such a violent impact with a 3,000-pound Honda Civic blazing at more than 65 mph could've had horrible consequences, but the Model X has a safety-first design that minimized the damage from the collision and saved the driver's life.
The Model X has 12 airbags in total, ready to shield the driver from all sides in case of an accident. The car has front airbags for the head and knees, a couple of side curtain airbags, four airbags mounted at the sides of the seats, and two door-mounted airbags.
Tran shared photos of the Tesla Model X after the collision and it looks bad, but it could've been far worse considering the circumstances. Tran had a torn hand ligament and a few bruises from the accident, but nothing major. He got married the next day as planned and he's grateful that Tesla saved his life.
