A 2009 Toyota Corolla veered off the road on a wet and cloudy day, and as it launched back onto it, struck a Tesla Cybertruck driving in the opposite direction
December 29, 2023 at 10:33
The first-ever accident on public roads involving a Tesla Cybertruck appears to have taken place in California. Fortunately, no one was taken to hospital as a result of the incident that early reports suggest was caused by a 2009 Toyota Corolla.
The collision took place shortly after 2:00 p.m. local time on Skyline Boulevard in Palo Alto. Photos of the incident, first shared by Reddit user u/boddhya, show that the Corolla was badly damaged in the crash and that the left side of the Cybertruck took some reasonably heavy damage, too.
According to the California Highway Patrol’s preliminary investigation, which was first shared with The Autopian, the “Corolla was traveling south on SR-35 [Skyline Boulevard] southbound, south of Page Mill Road, at an unknown speed, when the driver, for unknown reasons, turned to the right and subsequently struck a dirt embankment on the right shoulder.”
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Credit: u/boddhya and u/Brian1961Silver via Reddit
The car then bounced back onto the road, crossed the double yellow lines into the northbound lane, and struck the Cybertruck. While the circumstances leading to the Corolla’s off-road excursion are not clear, the police note that the incident occurred in wet, cloudy conditions, and The Verge reports the driver was 17 years old. Police do not suspect that driver aids, such as Autopilot, were being used by the Tesla at the time of the incident.
Fortunately, the Corolla’s driver did not suffer any injuries, nor did two of the passengers in the Tesla. However, the truck’s driver complained of pain following the incident but declined transport to the hospital.
The Tesla was reportedly wearing Texas plates, and the driver’s name matched that of an engineer who works for Tesla. Therefore, it is unclear if this was a privately owned or company-owned vehicle.
Police say they were notified of the incident via an automatic 911 call, though it remains unclear if that was triggered by the Cybertruck, whose latest update includes such a function, or the phone belonging to one of the occupants.