Reuters talked to experts
The Tesla Cybertruck's choppy design has raised concerns among safety experts, who say the electric pickup truck's rigid, stainless steel body could harm pedestrians and cyclists, as well as damage other vehicles on the road.
Reuters spoke to professors and safety officials who weighed in on video of Tesla's crash tests. Experts who spoke to Reuters said they needed accurate crash test data to make definitive conclusions about safety.
«The big problem is that if they really make the skin of the car very rigid, using thick stainless steel, then when people hit their heads on it, it will cause them even more harm», —& nbsp;said Adrian Lund, former president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
George Washington University auto safety professor Samer Hamdar expressed concern about the limited “crumple zones” but added that other features could compensate. Deformation zones — these are the parts of the car that, in a collision, deform to more safely absorb the energy of the impact: «It may be possible to create a shock-absorbing mechanism that will limit the fact that you have a limited deformation zone».
David Friedman, former acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, stated: «If you are in an accident with another vehicle that has a crumple zone, and your car is more rigid, then their cars will crash, but yours will survive».
Julia Griswold, director of the University of California, Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, said she was «alarmed» crash test videos published by Tesla. She said the trucks' heavy weight and rapid acceleration «cause anxiety for those not in them».
«We hope Tesla doesn't bring this car to Europe. A car of this size, power and enormous mass will be fatal to pedestrians and cyclists in a collision», — the Brussels-based non-profit organization the European Transport Safety Council said in a statement.
It was previously reported that the Cybertruck would never make it to Europe due to its relatively sharp protrusions. European safety regulations require that all external projections have a minimum of 3.2mm rounded corners.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the new Cybertruck will be «much safer» than other pickups in its class.