Driving a Tesla can offer a number of benefits to motorists who decide to ditch the internal combustion engine.
The all-electric cars are much cheaper to refuel than conventional vehicles powered by dirty fuel — and require little maintenance by comparison. They also provide plenty of driving range on a single charge and produce no planet-warming pollution when out on the road.
The abundance of cameras fitted to Teslas also allows drivers to catch fellow motorists who are overcome with road rage.
One Redditor posted a video of such an incident to the r/TeslaModel3 community. They explained that they were in mild traffic and followed the car in front's lead to merge into the lane next to them. The driver behind apparently didn't appreciate this decision and proceeded to speed past them on the right, throwing something at the Tesla in the process.
"I take a look and there's some paint chips on the rear passenger door so I file a police report and submitted a claim with insurance," the Redditor noted. "But they tell me I have to pay my deductible of course.
"Is it worth it to spend $100 to get justice and get some paint chips fixed? Since it's considered vandalism, this may also raise my insurance price."
The claim would likely be successful thanks to the video evidence, but the concern about a rising premium and the need to shell out $100 anyway is understandable. Still, fellow Redditors thought it was worth it if only to teach the other driver a lesson.
"I would easily spend the $100 to make someone aware that Teslas are always watching," one user said.
"Do it, so his insurance goes up," another added.
Unfortunately, Tesla drivers are often the victims of road rage incidents for little reason. Some pilots of gas-guzzling cars can't seem to let go of dirty fuel, and they like to express their distaste by parking in EV charging spots, severing charging cables, or rolling coal — when a driver intentionally makes their vehicle emit a cloud of smog, which is often directed at cyclists as well.
It's such a shame, because actions such as these can discourage people from adopting EV technology that is much kinder to the planet. While EVs aren't perfect and do have some polluting impact, they are responsible for far less pollution over their life cycles than dirty-fuel-powered cars.
But at least Teslas can help identify the road ragers so they can be reported to the relevant authorities.
"Why are people like this!?" one Redditor asked in disbelief after seeing the video.
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