Check Out This Tesla Model 3 Totaled By Teenage Driver In Rear-End Crash

The Tesla owner's girlfriend suffered from a non-life-threatening injury. Everyone else walked away, but the car was a complete loss.

tesla model 3 totaled in rear-end crash

11:18

Steven Loveday

By: Steven Loveday

Mar 12, 2023 at 12:06pm ET

Add InsideEVs as a preferred source in Google

Comment

A Tesla Model 3 owner was slowly coming to a stop at a red light at night when a car hit him from behind at full speed. The collision sent the electric sedan spinning a full 180 degrees. While the Model 3 was badly damaged at the rear, it was fortunate that it just barely avoided hitting the Jeep Wrangler that was stopped at the light ahead of it.

Dario Rodriquez, the owner of the brand-new Tesla Model 3 Performance had just left a movie with his girlfriend. They weren't far from the cinema in Panama City, Florida, when the crash occurred. As it turns out, the teenage girl who rear-ended the Tesla had also just left the same movie. She had others in the car as well, and thankfully, despite the violent impact, no one in the car was injured.

Sadly, Dario's girlfriend suffered from a substantial contusion on her thigh. She was reportedly leaning forward and using the Tesla's touch screen to search through music when the car was unexpectedly hit in the rear.

The police were contacted, and they arrived to write up a police report. Dario filed a claim with his insurance. Initially, the Model 3 was going to cost about $13,000 to repair. However, upon further inspection, the damage added up to a whopping $50,000, so the Tesla was considered a total loss.

The video clip doesn't go into detail about whether or not the police needed to consult the TeslaCam footage as part of their report. However, in the case of a rear-end accident, the person being rear-ended is rarely considered at fault. I

n this case, it seemed quite clear that Dario was just proceeding to stop at a red light when the other driver failed to do the same. That said, having access to such footage can prove very helpful if there's any question about the precise details of the accident.

See More Tesla Crash Stories:

Tesla Destroyed By Crash With Box Truck, Repair Bill Is Shocking

Tesla's Built-In Dashcam Crash Footage Proves Pickup Driver Lied

What do you think?

View

Comments

Check out the full video above for more details about the Tesla Model 3 crash. Much like other Wham Baam Teslacam features, the video above contains 19 additional stories from Tesla owners, including various crashes, near misses, hit-and-run accidents, and other TeslaCam and Tesla Sentry mode footage.

Once you've had a chance to watch the clips, scroll down and leave us your takeaways in the comment section below.

Source: Wham Baam Teslacam (YouTube)

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Insideevs.com?

Take our 3 minute survey.

- The InsideEVs team

Share this Story

GO TO COMMENTS

(

)

Got a tip for us? Email: tips@insideevs.com

View all comments ( )

Trending

Kia EV3 Lease Deals Are Here, And It’s Cheaper Than The Chevy Bolt And Nissan Leaf

I Let Android Auto Plan My EV Roadtrip. Here’s How It Worked

This Chevy Bolt Has 470,000 Miles. Here’s How Much A New Battery Was

Here's What It's Like To Take Delivery Of A Rivian R2