Four people including two kids left in critical condition after Tesla plunges down 250-foot cliff
A TESLA carrying four occupants drove 250 feet off a cliff in California on Monday.
The vehicle landed on the cliffside’s beach and appeared to have flipped multiple times before all four occupants were rescued.
The Tesla was holding two adults and two minors — aged four and nine.
Both of the crash’s adults suffered non-life-threatening injuries but were in critical condition earlier Monday, NBC reports.
The accident’s two minors were unharmed.
At around 10:50am on Monday, emergency responders received a report of a car that went off a cliff.
The report’s location was in the southbound direction of Highway 1, south of the Tom Lantos Tunnel at Devil’s Slide in San Mateo, California.
Several helicopters and agencies were dispatched to rescue the accident’s patients.
These agencies included:
- CAL FIRE
- Coastside Fire Protection District
- North County Fire Authority
- San Mateo County Harbor District officials
- U.S. Coast Guard
- California State Parks (San Mateo)
- California Highway Patrol
- American Medical Response
- San Mateo County Harbor District officials
Battalion Fire Chief Brian Pottenger, who responded to the crash, said: “We go there all the time for cars over the cliff, and they never live.”
“This was an absolute miracle,” Associated Press reports.
According to Associated Press, the accident’s Tesla was not believed to be in a self-driving mode according to an initial investigation.
Tesla’s three self-driving systems are Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving (FSD.)
Tesla says its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, “Identifies stop signs and traffic lights and automatically slows your car to a stop on approach, with your active supervision.”
FSD additionally provides automatic steering on city streets.
Tesla notes its Autopilot feature: “Matches the speed of your car to that of the surrounding traffic, assists in steering within a clearly marked lane, and uses traffic-aware cruise control.”
Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot is the middle ground between its inventory’s standard Autopilot and Full Self-Driving packages.
Enhanced Autopilot includes standard features, like:
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- Emergency Braking
- Blind-spot Monitoring
- Lane-Keeping Assistance
Autopilot is standard, Enhanced Autopilot is $6,000 or $99 a month, and FSD costs $15,000 or $199 a month.
Road conditions were also not considered a factor in the Tesla’s crash.
The accident’s official cause remains unknown.