Gary Zhou 
Rock-throwing attacks on motorists may be a random act for some, but it carries a lot of very real danger. Having a heavy projectile land on a vehicle’s windshield, after all, could easily disorient or injure a driver or a car’s passengers. Fortunately for a Tesla Model 3 owner in Portland, OR, the all-electric sedan’s windshield turned out to be sturdy enough to tank a moderately sized rock that was intentionally thrown by a person on the side of the road.
The shocking video was initially shared on the @posportland Instagram account. The Instagram group noted that the incident happened at the Glisan Exit at 205 during a rainy day. As could be seen in the short clip, a Tesla driver was just going about his business when a man on the side of the road approached the all-electric car while holding a rock. The man then proceeded to throw the projectile at the Tesla, timing it so that the rock hit the driver’s side windshield.
The Tesla driver was evidently distressed at the incident, as the EV operator stopped and smashed his horn. Unfortunately, the video ended there, though a later comment from u/psygist, who shared the clip on the r/TeslaModel3 subreddit, noted that the person who threw the rock was reportedly under the influence. This seemed to be a fair assumption considering that the man who attacked the Tesla did not seem to show any remorse, at one point even (seemingly) bowing after the incident.
Rock throwing incidents could be particularly deadly, and they happen all over the world. In the United States, several teens were sentenced to prison in 2019 over rock-throwing “pranks” that ended up killing people. It’s been going on for some time too. Back in 2000, three American teenagers who killed two motorists by throwing rocks at vehicles ended up being convicted of murder in Germany. The teenagers, who were children of US Army soldiers stationed in Darmstadt, received eight years in a juvenile prison for their actions.
The incident surrounding the Model 3 in Portland is undoubtedly shocking. Had the Tesla’s glass been any weaker, the driver could have been seriously hurt, or worse. Fortunately, a seemingly random combination of the Model 3’s strong windshield, a rather large rock that easily broke apart on impact, and the force of the perpetrator’s throw culminated in an incident that resulted in vehicle repair bills and seemingly little else. If the Tesla driver was more aggressive, or if the perpetrator used a heavier rock, things could have easily gone sideways very quickly.
Watch the rock-throwing attack on a Tesla Model 3 in the video below.
