Vehicles are designed to withstand impacts, but not of any kind. Y falling 80 meters off a cliff stumbling, definitely not in anyone’s plansnot even from those who design and test the vehicles in terms of safety.
But unfortunately, This is exactly what happened to four people who were traveling in a Tesla electric vehicle along the paths that border the cliff aptly named The Devil’s Slide.(El Tobogán del Diablo) in California, USA. According to witnesses, when leaving the tunnel the road becomes steep, and the vehicle left the asphalt and ended up in the abyss near the sea, after falling 80 meters.
First responders say the results of an accident of this magnitude were miraculous. All four occupants of a Tesla survived with moderate injuries., which is amazing when we can see the remains. The rescue effort involved multiple helicopters and advanced emergency techniques given the topography, which added to the difficulty of dealing with an electric vehicle that must be said, did not have any start of fire that endangers human lives.
The first thing rescuers did was detect movement through binoculars in front of the disabled Tesla. To speed up the rescue, the authorities requested helicopter support and while waiting for air support, the firefighters went down the cliff and rescued two children, ages 9 and 4, with the help of an emergency basket.
Once the helicopters arrived, they were able to effectively rescue the two adults in the vehicle, making it presumed to be an entire family. Of the occupants, the worst part was taken by the adults with the aforementioned moderate injuries, and the incredibly rescued children were virtually uninjured.
This afternoon, deputies responded to a solo vehicle over the side of Hwy 1 south of the Tom Lantos tunnel. Two adults suffered non-life threatening injuries and two children were unharmed. Tremendous collaborative effort btwn SMSO, @CHP_GoldenGate and @calfireSCU pic.twitter.com/sVyKp6LSrc
— San Mateo County SO (@SMCSheriff) January 3, 2023
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is still investigating the cause of the crash and according to their initial investigation, the Tesla is not believed to have been operating in autopilot mode or fully autonomous driving when the accident occurred.
The same authorities point out that these accidents are unfortunately frequent, but given the brutal geography, they rarely rescue an occupant alive. What happened this time was much more than good luck.
