UPDATED on Oct. 10, 2019: We were contacted by Brandon, the Tesla driver, who confirmed that 'the motorcyclist was successfully identified by the help of the videos.' We thank Brandon for the update and hope that the time will come when drivers finally learn to respect each other – with the assistance of dash cams, if nothing else.
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Tesla dash cams have long since become the source of entertainment, recording videos of the Autopilot feature evading collisions in the last moment, shedding light on some of the craziest road accidents, and even spoiling the looks of the EV maker’s latest SUV, the Model Y.
These two short videos show a conflict that happened in California. A Tesla Model 3 was trailing after a Suzuki GSX-R 600 bike in the leftmost lane. Then the biker suddenly dropped from 70 to 50 miles per hour (112 to 80 km/h) and only agreed to leave the speed lane after being repeatedly signaled at. Later on, passing by, he deliberately hit the side mirror and floored the gas.
The Tesla owner only published the immediate footage of the incident at first. Facing numerous accusations from people who suspected he could have provoked the biker first, he uploaded the rest of the video. All in all, it does look like the biker guy had a sort of grudge against Tesla cars…
According to the car owner, repairing the mirror would cost $518. On the brighter side, the number plate has already been identified, and the police is searching for the offender.