There is one less Cybertruck on the road after one was involved in a two-vehicle accident yesterday in California. This is the first reported accident involving a Cybertruck on public roads, and was the fault of the other driver.
The accident took place on Thursday afternoon in the Bay Area on Skyline Boulevard, just south of Palo Alto. According to a preliminary investigation by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), which responded to the scene at around 2:05pm, a 2009 Toyota Corolla driven by a 17-year old veered off the side of the road, where it hit an embankment, sending it back onto the road and into the path of the oncoming Cybertruck. With no where to go the two vehicles collided.
In the aftermath Reddit user boddhya just happened to be driving by and took a couple of photos, showing the Cybertruck with its front doors open and at least the driver-side curtain airbag deployed. From this angle the Cybertruck doesn’t appear to have much damage at all, but based on the description of the accident from the CHP the point of impact was on the left front of the Cybertruck, which was out of view of the camera.
The Corolla on the other hand was not so lucky, definitely taking the brunt of the damage.
UPDATE 9:15am PT: Here is an additional photo of the damage on the left hand side of the Cybertruck, as well as a video from someone driving by.
In a release by the CHP, the Cybertruck driver suffered a minor injury and declined transportation to a hospital for treatment. The mainstream media has been quick to publish headlines about how dangerous the Cybertruck is for other drivers because of its size and weight (even though there are gas-powered trucks that are bigger and heavier), but the 17-year old driver of the Corolla was uninjured, according to a statement issued by the CHP.
“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. The Tesla driver sustained a suspected minor injury and declined medical transportation. No other injuries were reported. It does not appear that the Tesla Cybertruck was being operated in autonomous mode. The investigation into this incident is ongoing.”
Tesla first started deliveries of the Cybertruck on November 30 at Giga Texas, and since then has delivered an unknown, but small, amount to customers in California and Texas. Those have all been Foundation Series Cybertrucks, which come with laser-etched badging on the front quarter panels (and other locations too). From the photo above it appears as though this Cybertruck does not have this badging, indicating this could have been a test vehicle driven by an employee.
