A Tesla Model 3 owner was driving on the highway when another driver threw a metal baseball bat out the window at the EV. The bat hit and damaged the car. Fortunately, the incident was all captured on the Tesla’s standard, built-in dashcam.
We’ve seen many similar videos of road rage incidents captured by TeslaCam. While we often don’t know the entire story, including what may have happened before the recording started, there’s never any justification for such an act of violence.
As the story goes, Tesla Model 3 owner Danny was driving on a California freeway in the express lane. He says a delivery truck ended up slowing the lane down, traveling just 50 mph, so he decided to go around it, following other cars that were also planning to pass the slow-moving vehicle.
The Model 3 driver followed a pickup truck to the right, around the larger moving truck. This took him around a Honda Fit before he made his way back into the left lane. The Honda driver appeared upset that Danny may have cut it too close, potentially cutting him off. However, Danny says it appeared the Honda driver sped up while he was passing it.
The Tesla driver proceeded to drive in the express lane, forgetting about the previous event and keeping his eyes on other happenings on the road. Meanwhile, the Honda driver was reportedly revving his engine and then speeding toward the Model 3. The driver of the Fit pulled in front of Danny and brake-checked him. As you can only imagine, the situation started to escalate quickly.
Danny moved to the far right lane to avoid issues, but the Honda driver followed and continued the road rage. Danny stayed back and tried to avoid the Fit, but it was difficult with the traffic. The Honda driver ended up pulling up next to him and pacing him with the window down, only to then toss a baseball bat out the window at the Model 3. After throwing the bat, the driver of the Fit proceeded to keep chasing the Tesla.
Danny exited the freeway and headed toward the nearest police station while contacting the highway patrol. The California Highway Patrol reportedly used the video in their investigation of the incident. Meanwhile, Danny had to pay $600 to have a window replaced on his Model 3.
It seems built-in dashcams should arguably be a no-brainer for today’s cars. Rivian is adding a feature much like TeslaCam. What do you think? Should all cars offer a dashcam? Should the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety encourage it and eventually factor it into its safety scores?