Photo: Jenny Hautmann
A Tesla Model 3 saved the life of a 20-year-old space photographer after a head-on collision with a U-Haul truck. The mid-size sedan protected the girl's body from life-threatening injuries while the truck driver died.
The story of Jenny Hautmann has been especially popular in the space community as the 20-year-old girl is a talented photographer. On the day of her horrific accident in October, she was heading to photograph NASA's Lucy mission launch in her Tesla Model 3 along State Road 407 near the Beachline Expressway. That Saturday morning, a U-Haul truck driving the opposite direction drifted into her lane and crashed head-on into her car, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Pictures of the car, as well as the aftermath of the collision, indicate enormous force. The Model 3 sustained a very strong blow to the front, which caused serious damage. As a result, Jenny was stuck in the car for an hour while firefighters freed her; they had to cut off the roof of the car to get to her. The girl was seriously injured and underwent ten surgeries to remove her ruptured spleen, repair multiple breaks in both of her legs, pelvic bone and shattered foot, a tracheostomy procedure, and facial reconstruction of her jaw, nose, and cheekbones. However, after several months of rehab, progress in recovery is becoming more and more evident, and most importantly, Jenny's life was saved.
The robust construction of Model 3, crumple zones, and airbags do everything necessary to protect the driver as much as possible. In the event of such an accident in a car with an internal combustion engine, the driver's body would almost certainly be crushed by the engine, with fatal consequences. Tesla designs its cars in such a way that they are able to protect their occupants even in the most serious accidents, which has been repeatedly demonstrated in various accidents.
The driver of the U-Haul truck who caused the accident died from injuries sustained during the collision, and his wife, who was in the front seat, was seriously injured.
There were 33,244 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2019 in which 36,096 deaths occurred. This resulted in 11.0 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.11 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. These numbers are staggering and show just how unsafe cars are. However, cars are a means of transportation, so people will continue to use them until a worthy alternative appears. That is why automakers have an important duty to create reliable vehicles that will do an excellent job of protecting occupants during accidents. Tesla stands out from the crowd by creating vehicles that meet all safety standards and achieve five-star ratings in all tests by regulators and organizations around the world.
One last goodbye and a thank you for saving my life 💙@Tesla @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/QnJgO2Ora0
— Jenny Hautmann (@JennyHPhoto) February 8, 2022
© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.
_____________________________
We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
