Someone just suggested that Tesla add a “duress PIN” that silently notifies emergency services that you are being carjacked. One of the responses argued that, while a nice idea, you would likely forget both PINs under stress. That reminded me of a time I was in a car accident.

After skidding out and hitting the guardrail on an overpass/turn, the airbags deployed, breaking the steering wheel horn mechanism and shorting it so the horn was constantly on. I remembered that turning off the car disabled the horn relay, so I turned off the car. I also put on the hazards. Then I called a family member for help but they were already asleep and unable to come get me. I was on my own.

Since I was facing traffic, I decided to turn the car around with a three-point turn on a single-lane overpass/merge lane. The horn was on, so I had to turn the car off again. I remember thinking that I was probably disturbing whoever lived within earshot. I decided to pull the fuse for the horn so it wouldn’t go off as I drove home. There was still the issue of the airbag. It was bulky and would not allow full movement of the steering wheel, so I grabbed some duct tape from my emergency kit, stuffed the airbag back into the steering wheel as best I could, and taped it shut. Then I did a final inspection/walkaround and drove home.

Im not saying I wouldn’t react with panic if being carjacked. All I’m saying is that we all have different thresholds for what causes it. Apparently mine allowed me to get through an accident okay.