‘Incredible that these are considered street legal’: The almighty Cybertruck proves to be no match for hollow plastic fence posts

Dunking on the hideous Cybertruck is a pastime of mine that I thoroughly enjoy. It’s not just because it’s something that was created by Elon Musk, (although that certainly is part of it) but it’s just such a poorly thought-out vehicle that borders on being outright dangerous.

And I’m not alone in this, plenty of others don’t like the truck and have taken to the internet in the time since it was first unveiled to give their own harsh opinions on the vehicle. But that’s not to say the cyber-abomination doesn’t have its fans with people willing to pay between $80,000 and $100,000 to get their hands on one.

A video showing how poorly designed these cars are has been going viral on Musk’s own platform, X. User @ARTHURdented shared the short clip showing the truck ramming through some flimsy plastic fencing. This obviously demonstrates just how powerful the cybertruck really is, I mean, that plastic fencing never even stood a chance!

Except the truck doesn’t exactly come away unscathed. In fact, that weak fencing is more dangerous than it looks as it appears to have pierced something underneath the vehicle resulting in battery coolant leaking everywhere. The user who shared the clip is shocked that these cars are even street-legal and it’s hard to disagree when a cheap piece of plastic can cause so much damage.

But surely that’s an issue for other cars too, right? One individual replied defending the truck calling all the hate “stupid” but as @ARTHURdented points out, most normal cars wouldn’t be damaged by the fencing due to having a guard plate at the front. I’ll level with you, I’m not really a car guy, but the exposed underside of the Cybertruck seems like a design flaw to me.

How safe is the Cybertruck?

Okay, so sometimes being a hater can be fun, but is there a genuine reason to be worried about these trucks being driven around on the streets? There have been numerous debates over the safety of the Cybertruck with a lot of criticism directed at the vehicle’s shape and the fact that it doesn’t have a crumple zone, something which cars need to absorb impact in the event of a crash. 

However, Tesla shared some more details regarding how the Cybertruck makes use of the front underbody casting, which breaks apart on impact, “absorbing and dispensing energy.”

Another concern is the stiff material it’s made from and the sharp edges. If this beast were to hit a pedestrian or cyclist, the hard material and the edges could really cause some damage to a soft-bodied human being. Although the driver and passenger of the truck may be unharmed, the danger is for anyone outside the vehicle, even another car, due to the weight and material, the Cybertruck could potentially cause a lot of harm according to an article from Reuters.

In the end, the Cybertruck is still a relatively new vehicle and there’s not a whole lot of data and examples to go on. Is this vehicle as safe as Elon Musk claims it is? Well it’s difficult to trust a single word that comes out of that man’s mouth, so we’ll just have to wait and see.