A blue Tesla Model X channeled its inner bird of prey but kept its signature falcon doors closed as it hurtled through two parked cars before flying over a swimming pool and landing in the kitchen of a neighboring house in San Mateo, California, late last week.
The driver, 70, and her daughter, 40, who was in the passenger seat, were uninjured after the bizarre accident, and there was no one inside the damaged house, as the owner was away on holiday, according to Jerami Surratt, a public information officer for the San Mateo Police Department quoted by SFGate.
The cause of the accident has not yet been determined, but after the first on-scene observations, the car “probably flew 40 to 50 feet through the air,” according to Surratt, who added that the Model X was not in self-driving mode when the driver lost control.
Police and fire crews were dispatched to the scene at the intersection of Murphy and Ashwood Drive at around 7:10 am, where the SUV hit a curb, drove through a yard and driveway, crashed into two parked cars, went through a fence, and flew over a swimming pool. Finally, it crashed into the side wall of another home and stopped in the kitchen furniture and stove.
One of the daughters of the homeowner who was away on vacation says she found out about the crash after her sister got an alarm from the security alarm system that said someone had broken into the house.
“Honestly just amazed that no one was hurt,” Meredith Donato told KTVU. “If my mother was in the house, she would absolutely have been drinking her tea at 7 am in the kitchen. There’s obviously property damage, but at the end of the day it’s just stuff.”
“There were witnesses in the neighborhood that saw the Tesla slow down to a stop and accelerate very quickly, but exactly what happened is still under investigation,” said Jerami Surratt.
