He hit something at freeway speeds that lifted his car into the air yet continued driving, even after he was alerted the collision had caused significant damage to his car?
So I currently live in Tennessee near where the incident took place (the vehicle owner is a relatively well-known spinal surgeon in Nashville) and I can tell you that the interstates in this part of the country are relatively desolate and do not present an attractive option for pulling over. Outside of the cities, there are miles between exits and the area is heavily wooded with little amenities nearby. After having driven on I-24 for a time, I can relate with the author when he states "I just wanted to make it home". If his car seemed "driveable" at the time, I too would've chalked it up to bad luck and tried to survey the damage at home rather than getting stranded on a interstate shoulder. Just a hypothesis offering some context for the basis of his decisions.
"Car needs service" does not mean "pull over immediately". Pulling over on the side of a freeway isn't the safest thing to do, especially if you're told your car may not restart. Once the car told him to pull over, he did, safely.
If your car says that when you're starting it at your home then it may not be something to be concerned about but if that message pops up immediately after you hit something at highway speeds, you should take that as an indication something is definitely wrong and pull over.
I had a similar innocuous sounding message popup in my car (not Tesla) right after there was significant damage to the tires/rims and suspension due to some large debris on the road. I pulled over immediately but the car's "Car needs service"/"Tire pressure low" messages were ironically amusing when I got out and saw the extent of the damage (completely flat tires, broken rims, etc).
TLDR: Cars don't have "This car will explode/catch fire" messages. "Needs service" message can mean something really bad.
There is a middle ground between stopping immediately on the freeway and continuing home at your previous speed.
There is lots of damage that may not immediately be obvious. For example if the debris struck his tyres he could suffer a blowout that could cause him to lose control.
Running over a piece of debris so large that it feels like it lifted the car absolutely means "pull over immediately". He had no idea what structural damage occurred to the car, and continuing as is put not only himself but other drivers on the roadway in danger.
There is negligible danger pulling over on the freeway. I can only imagine that he didn't want the inconvenience, which is remarkably selfish.
Since I have no hard evidence either way, I have to go with my gut, which says that pulling over on a freeway shoulder is dangerous and should only be done as a last resort. But I would welcome evidence to the contrary.
I find your reply simply incredible given that in this case the driver not only didn't pull over on a significant impact event, they stayed in the left lane, then causing a huge road hazard as their car burst into flames, forcing them to pull off the left shoulder of the highway (again, the most dangerous place to be). To bizarrely question my advice seems rather foolhardy given the situation that we know.
Condescending blather about what we're "here for" is not what we're here for given that we're discussing the details of this event.
Why did he not pull over immediately? Especially if you own an expensive car, I'd want to know immediately if it was damaged... if it was raised off the ground by an object.
Did his continued driving contribute to causing the fire to start? Rather than stopping immediately.
Quote from the article... "Car needs service. Car may not restart." I continued to drive, hoping to get home.
He also stated that after he had hit the object, he still had full control of the car so he didn't feel like he was in any dangerous or had the need to pull over. Quote below.
"While driving after I hit the object until I pulled over, the car performed perfectly, and it was a totally controlled situation."
Would you rather get home and deal with your fucked up car there, or deal with it on the side of the high way? It makes perfect sense why you would try to keep driving it if you were close to your destination.
