Cybertruck owner breaks finger while testing vehicle’s strength
The Tesla Cybertruck has garnered plenty of attention since it was revealed in November 2019 thanks to its polarizing angular design. With the pickup now starting to enter customer hands, Tesla owners are beginning to test out some of the vehicle’s advertised capabilities — sometimes with unexpected results.
One Cybertruck owner recently found himself in the emergency room after attempting to demonstrate the truck’s strength and ended up breaking his finger in the process. John Smith of Austin, Texas took delivery of his new Cybertruck last week and was eager to showcase some of its touted attributes to friends and family. During a get-together at his home on Saturday, Smith decided to illustrate the Cybertruck’s toughness by slamming the truck’s door on a steel ball.
“I’ve seen the videos of Elon [Musk] doing it on stage at the unveiling without any issues, so I thought it would be cool to show people,” said Smith. “Boy was I wrong.”
At the unveiling presentation in 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk drove home the Cybertruck’s durability by having his chief designer sledgehammer the door and window without damaging them. This left many with the impression the vehicle could withstand considerable abuse. Smith sought to duplicate the demonstration but with an unexpected result.
How the accident unfolded
According to Smith, he placed a 1-inch steel ball on the edge of the open Cybertruck door then forcefully swung the door shut to smash the ball. However, after making contact, Smith felt an excruciating pain in his finger. “As soon as the door hit the ball, there was this horrible cracking sound. At first I wasn’t sure what happened but then I looked down and saw my finger was bent at a weird angle,” recalled Smith.
He immediately realized something was broken and his friends rushed him to the emergency room at St. David’s Medical Center in Austin. An X-ray confirmed Smith had suffered a non-displaced fracture to the proximal phalanx bone in his left ring finger. The doctor placed it in a splint and told him it would take 4-6 weeks to fully heal.
While Smith achieved his goal of demonstrating the strength and resilience of the Cybertruck door, the aftermath was certainly not what he envisioned. “I really thought it would just smash the ball no problem like in the videos. I never expected my finger to get pinched and broken in there,” he said remorsefully from his hospital bed.
Was the demonstration a fair assessment of the truck’s toughness? Experts weigh in
The accident has triggered debate in the automotive community over whether Musk’s staged demonstrations at the unveiling event painted an unrealistic picture of the Cybertruck’s durability characteristics in real-world use cases. Some argue placing a body part in the moving door’s path is an unreasonable test not representative of typical vehicle operation. Others believe consumers may interpret such exaggerated shows of strength as a sign the truck can withstand forces it’s not truly designed for.
We asked Derek Price, an automotive engineer with over 20 years experience in vehicle structures and safety, to evaluate the incident. “While the Cybertruck door certainly withstood significant abuse in the promotional videos, those were very controlled demonstrations that don’t necessarily correlate to real world impacts,” explained Price.
He pointed out key differences between the staged showings and what actually happened to Smith. “Musk was sledgehammering an stationary vehicle, not rapidly closing the moving door onto an object. And they used a large sledgehammer head distributed over a wide area versus a small concentrated steel ball.”
Price surmised the fracture resulted from a pinching action as the heavy door slammed down onto Smith’s finger with all its weight and speed focused onto a small point. “Automakers test structures to withstand impacts distributed over the whole surface area, not localized concentrated loads. No door is designed to pinch or sever parts of the human body,” he stated.
The takeaway, according to Price, is flashy marketing displays should not give viewers an unrealistic sense of a vehicle’s safety capabilities under atypical conditions. “While the Cybertruck may have tough attributes, owners and customers need to understand its limitations to avoid unintended injuries. Surrounding any new technology launch with appropriate warnings reinforces responsible usage,” emphasized the engineer.
What does Tesla say about the incident?
We reached out to Tesla for comment on the accident and how it may shape guidelines going forward regarding demonstrations of vehicle attributes. A company spokesperson shared the following statement:
“At Tesla, we take customer safety very seriously. While initial reviews suggest the Cybertruck door operated as intended under normal conditions by withstanding repeated abuse without damage, we did not intend for displays at the vehicle unveiling to suggest owners use their cars in unsafe or hazardous ways. All automakers design their vehicles first and foremost with the safety of drivers and passengers as the top priority. Going forward we will take steps to provide clear advisories that performance tests are not endorsements of atypical usage scenarios posing risk of injury.”
The spokesperson also noted Tesla has been in contact with the owner regarding his finger injury and wishes him a speedy recovery. They declined to elaborate on specifics of their communication or any potential liability issues stemming from the incident due to privacy concerns.
However, it seems clear Tesla acknowledges further guidelines around vehicle testing demonstrations may be prudent to prevent unrealistic expectations of safety or durability under atypical forces unintended by engineering designs. The automaker now has first-hand experience that flashy hype, if taken too literally, could promote risky behaviors endangering owners despite well-intentioned messaging.
Tesla owners react and offer safety reminders
To get owner perspectives, we reached out to several Cybertruck reservation holders and took to Tesla forums and Facebook groups. Most expressed both sympathy for the injured owner but also belief he should have known better than to endanger himself in an unsafe test.
One Texas owner who goes by the handle ‘RivianChallenger’ on Reddit wrote “I’m really hoping this incident teaches owners, and Tesla, that demonstrations can Promote unrealistic ideas of a vehicle’s capabilities if not accompanied by clear warnings. Machines like the Cybertruck are tough, but they aren’t invincible tanks. Understanding limitations is key to safety.”
British enthusiast ‘TeslaTimUK’ commented on a Cybertruck Owners Club Facebook post: “This was obviously a freak accident stemming from an ill-advised ‘test’, but it underscores the need for Tesla to advise caution rather than seeming invulnerability. Most owners just want to enjoy their trucks without harm. Some guidance emphasizing reasonable, lawful operation would be wise.”
There did seem consensus among owners that while flashy videos capture imagination, responsible vehicle use depends on understanding both advertised strengths and inherent safety constraints. As more real-world examples like this emerge, both Tesla and owners may learn from each other how to balance excitement with caution. If handled constructively, such a learning experience could ultimately benefit both parties as well as the motoring public.
As the dust settles, a reminder of vehicle – and body – limitations
It’s clear the unfortunate incident that resulted in a Cybertruck owner’s broken finger was an accident born from good intentions gone awry, not a failure of the vehicle itself. While Tesla’s attention-grabbing demonstrations sparked imaginations about the pickup’s robustness, the harsh lesson here is they portrayed unrealistic scenarios no manufacturer endorses.
As Cybertrucks and other tough-bodied vehicles hit streets in growing numbers, it’s important for owners, onlookers and automakers alike to thoughtfully assess limitations as well as strengths. Performing tests endangering lives simply to boast is irresponsible regardless of supposed toughness. And no machine, no matter how resilient, should be viewed as impervious to potential injury under abnormal stresses.
With care, patience and common sense, adventuresome owners can still show off strengths without mishap by heeding constraints of both metal and bone. If we keep safety a priority and learn prudent judgment instead of brash assumptions, exciting innovations need not come at the cost of well-being but instead uplift both drivers and observers in a spirit of sustainable progress.
That in a nutshell captures the main points regarding this event: The need for demonstrations emphasizing safety over sensationalism, wisdom in distinguishing marketing from reality, and care for bodies human and vehicular alike underpinning enjoyment of advanced technologies. With care and learning, similar instances can become teachable moments rather than tragic ends.
