First reported Tesla Cybertruck accident results in only ‘minor’ injury

After Reddit user boddhya posted two pictures of a Cybertruck accident, the California Highway Patrol confirmed to The Verge that units responded to a two-vehicle accident on SR 35 (Skyline Boulevard). It occurred around 2:05PM local time, involving a 2023 Tesla Cybertruck carrying three people and a 2009 Toyota Corolla driven by a 17-year-old.

Tesla’s Cybertruck delivery event raised questions about the design and what would occur in an impact with other cars or pedestrians. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that anyone involved in this incident suffered major injury as a result.

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 only injury noted in the release provided by CHP mentions a suspected minor injury to the Cybertruck driver, who declined medical transportation, and it mentions that it does not appear the Tesla was operating in autonomous mode. The weather is described as cloudy and wet.

The pictures posted on Reddit show significant damage to the Corolla’s front end. The parts we can see of the Cybertruck don’t show the same damage despite the side-curtain airbags deployed. However, we can only see the passenger side, and the poster didn’t see much of the other side either.

While the truck doesn’t show markings of a “release candidate,” we didn’t spot any of the “Foundation Series” etching, so it’s unclear if this is a customer-delivered model or something else.

We’ll update this article with more details as they become available.