Usually when videos of road rage incidents go viral, they usually originate from the US or Russia … and rarely from our own backyard.
But, that’s not the case today. Video footage of a violent road rage incident in Auckland has gone viral around the world. According to the video, the Tesla’s owner (identified as Geoff Gardiner) was able to use the vision to prove his case against the aggressive driver in court. You can view the video below:
The video kicks off with the seemingly innocuous action of the Tesla Model X passing a Mitsubishi Galant near Auckland Airport. The Galant driver then makes numerous lunges at the Model X as the two drive along George Bolt Memorial Drive.
Having tailgated the Tesla, and fired past the Tesla a few times to brake-test it, the Galant driver seemingly decides to side-swipe the Tesla. Fish-tailing after the initial impact, the Galant whips into a spin, with the Tesla hitting it.
Having attempted to get out of the car several times to talk to the Tesla driver during each brake-check manoeuvre, the Galant driver gets out after the crash and starts slamming the Tesla driver’s window.
Instead of engaging, the driver calls police who arrive on the scene shortly. Perhaps just in time to prevent another road rage incident; the Galant driver having started to get angry at the driver of a Hyundai Kona stuck behind the two crashed cars.
According to reports, the Tesla driver was able to show the police the footage of the full road rage attack captured with his car’s ‘Sentry Mode’ cameras. This footage then became very handy when taking the angry driver to court.
It’s claimed that the Model X’s damage amounted to the value of US$45,000, or $64,800. The car was repaired, but the process took some three months. It’s unclear why exactly the Galant driver chose to react this way to Gardiner and his Tesla, but either way this case can be chalked up as another example of why Sentry Mode is one of the best features fitted to any new car.
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