1st Tesla Cybertruck Crash on Public Roads

Well, that was fast! As far as I’m aware, there are 10 or barely more than 10 Tesla Cybertrucks in customer hands at the moment. Yet, one of them already got into an accident. I immediately thought of the recent study showing that Tesla drivers get into more accidents than drivers of any other auto brands in the USA, and I thought, “Oh, no, here we go again.” However, it turns out that it was the Toyota Corolla that was at fault.

A statement from the California Highway Patrol notes: “On December 28, 2023 at approximately 2:05 pm, CHP Redwood City units were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash on SR-35 (Skyline Boulevard), south of Page Mill Road. Our preliminary investigation indicates a Toyota Corolla was traveling south on SR-35 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. The Toyota then re-entered the roadway, crossed over the double yellow lines into the northbound lane, and crashed into a Tesla Cybertruck traveling north on SR-35 northbound.”

Given that the driver lost control of the Corolla for “unknown reasons,” I have to wonder if they saw the Cybertruck and tried to snap a picture or something. But, of course, I’m not going on much here.

The damage wasn’t too bad, and there were no deaths or serious injuries, but the driver of the Cybertruck was reportedly injured. Two passengers in the Cybertruck were not. The damage to the side of the vehicle was significant enough, though, that one can imagine a big repair cost. Or maybe it will just be done in-house at Tesla. It appears the truck may be a company vehicle. It was being driven by a Tesla engineer based in Palo Alto and was registered there, whereas the truck plates came from Texas.

It was also noted that police were alerted to the crash by an automatic text message. That must have been from Tesla, as that’s a feature Tesla introduced a few years ago. And I don’t think it would be present on a 2009 Toyota Corolla.

You can see pictures of the vehicles from the crash here on reddit. The Corolla was quite smashed up. Though, the driver of the Corolla was apparently fine, with only the driver of the Cybertruck suffering a minor injury. “The driver of the Tesla had a ‘Complaint of Pain’ according to the report, but it was classed as ‘a suspected minor injury’ and they declined medical transport. Nobody else was injured in the matter, as per the report,” according to The Autopian.