Teslas crash more than gas-powered cars. Here's why | Hacker News Reader

Teslas crash more than gas-powered cars. Here's why

cnn.com

9 pointsbelter12 comments

> The increase in incidents is highest during the first year or so after drivers get the new electric vehicle, but then tapers off after that, according to LexisNexis, presumably as people get used to driving the new model. There is much less of a problem when a driver changes from a gasoline-powered vehicle to another gas-powered one, they found.

> That suggests there may be something about Teslas that’s causing people to crash more than other cars. But LexisNexis researchers had previously noticed similar trends in China, where there are many more EVs – including more that aren’t Teslas.

So the only thing special about Tesla here might be that their vehicles completely dominate the "American EV" data set.

Not mentioned: Whether accidents also increase when drivers switch between manual and automatic transmissions. (I'd bet on "yes".)

> Not mentioned: Whether accidents also increase when drivers switch between manual and automatic transmissions.

It’s really easy to stamp on the brake with your clutch foot at low speed, like in a car park. I’ve surprised a few people doing that.

Anecdotally, when I borrowed a friend's Tesla for the first time, I felt like I was re-learning to drive. The response to controls was entirely unlike anything I had driven before; and I had driven many different ICE vehicles on two continents. I felt rather unsafe behind the wheel of the thing.

You should also try driving one of the bigger zero-turn lawnmowers ... It's scary to go fast until you're used to the completely different mechanics of driving.

> “Most drivers are trained in driving [internal combustion] vehicles and they’re applying the habitual amount of pressure on the driving pedal but the behavior is very different, particularly in low-speed zones,” said Lu.

This is the main point. It takes a while to unlearn the habit of just flooring the pedal and trusting the slow response time of the ICE to smooth it out. Even a basic EV will haul ass immediately and with no noise.

Combine that with Tesla's (and others) 1-pedal driving where lifting off the pedal will essentially brake, you've got a bunch of learning to do.

It sounds like how the pedals react and one-pedal driving are the reasons they suspect? I was expecting touchscreen-only controls to be mentioned, but for all I know new ICE vehicles are like that too.

people are on their phones driving in every kind of car. Not sure if its relevant that its a touchscreen, even though I prefer older fashioned buttons.

> new ICE vehicles are like that too.

I’d expect them to be on versus more trained than the general population. Cars are their work tools, they spend a lot of time in there.

to my knowledge almost everything is touchscreen-only in Telsas (correct me if I'm wrong please!) but in everything else I've seen there's at least physical buttons still for some things.

Controls on the wheel or yoke include: turn signals, horn, windshield wipers, high beams, cruise/autopilot/FSD, voice command, and two 5-way scroll wheel things which are somewhat programmable and enable additional options when another button is pressed. By default I think they control audio, cruise speed, and following distance.

Older models have some of the above on stalks.

Beyond the wheel you've got window controls, gear selector, map lights, buttons and levers to open the doors, a gas and brake pedal, I think that's it

That said, you mostly tell the car what to do with voice commands. "Defrost the windows" or "open the glove box" or "drive to Costco" etc.

Edit: Hazard lights too

business insider says:

“84% of Model 3 owners also identify as male, according to the firm. For comparison, about 49% of licensed US drivers are male, per the Federal Highway Administration.”

according to a 1997 survey, 55% of adults feel that women are most responsible for minor 'fender benders', while 78% blame men for most fatal crashes:

blamed for minor accidents: 26% men 55% women 21% no opinion

blamed for fatal crashes: 78% men 13% women 10% no opinion

please note that the percentages for each category do not add up to 100% because the math was done by a woman

EDIT: to those downvoting this post, it should be noted that this post was drafted by a woman

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