A Dutchman died on Wednesday after his Tesla collided with a tree, according to local authorities, and it took firefighters hours to remove his body from the vehicle
due to fears they could be electrocuted. Reuters reports:
The cause of the crash on a highway about 40 kilometers east of Amsterdam was not known. Photos of the crash scene published by local media showed the back of the car mostly intact but its front smashed in and parts strewn about. Tesla said it was "working with the authorities to establish the facts of the incident" and would publish its findings as soon as they were available. A spokeswoman said it was not known whether the car was using "autopilot", Tesla's driving assistance technology, at the time of the crash, and that would form part of the investigation. A fatal crash of a Tesla Model S in the United States earlier this year knocked the company's shares and raised concerns about whether automated driving technology was being released to consumers safely.
Re:just the facts
By Smidge204
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2016-Sep-7 15:56
• Score: 4, Funny
• Thread
A Flying Dutchman? I thought this was a car crash, not a shipwreck...
=Smidge=
Re:Great firefighters
By ortholattice
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2016-Sep-7 16:12
• Score: 4, Informative
• Thread
Did you read the guide at all?
Warning: Regardless of the disabling procedure you use, ALWAYS ASSUME THAT ALL HIGH VOLTAGE COMPONENTS ARE ENERGIZED! Cutting, crushing, or touching high voltage components can result in serious injury or death.
I'm guessing reading is hard for you
On p. 14, "Cutting the front trunk first responder loop", it shows how to disable the high voltage. Under the hood there is a coiled loop of red wire with a big bright orange label with a picture of wire cutters. You cut the red wire. This shuts down the high voltage system outside of the high voltage battery itself. For extra safety, you cut a section out of it so it won't reconnect accidentally.
IMO they should put this on the first page. But at least it is there.
Re:Electrocution wasn't the reason
By sjames
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2016-Sep-7 16:15
• Score: 4, Insightful
• Thread
Exactly this. The relevant facts are: A man crashed a car into a tree and died. Since he was already dead and no other human life was at risk, firefighters took no unnecessary risks as they managed the fire. The rest was just a bunch of blather to try to turn an all too common everyday event into a story.
Re: Great firefighters
By Areyoukiddingme
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2016-Sep-7 16:47
• Score: 4, Interesting
• Thread
I don't want to pay firefighters to be trained in a car that .000001% of the populace has. There is much more beneficial training to be had.
And yet all firefighters receive extensive hazmat training, despite cars carrying hazardous materials being .000001% of the population. Even trucks carrying hazardous materials are a tiny fraction of all truck miles driven. They can get the training and you can fucking pay for it.
Re:People are idiots
By Khyber
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2016-Sep-7 18:09
• Score: 4, Informative
• Thread
"I would bet most fire departments have little training yet on EV batteries."
You lose that bet. Firefighters are trained to handle metal fires like sodium and lithium. Battery or raw element makes zero difference, their training should've had them able to handle that fire. Protip: Class D fire extinguisher (I was a volunteer firefighter.)