Tesla Model 3 Driver Survives 40-foot Drop, Crash into Kids’ Playground

Early on Monday morning, the Model 3 came crashing down a steep embankment and landed into a kids’ playground right below, KPTV Fox 12 Oregon reports. The drop was of about 40 feet but, luckily, the driver walked away from the crash on his own. Also luckily, there were no children at the daycare at the moment, so no one was hurt.

According to the report, police believe the man had some kind of medical incident, possibly a seizure, right before he lost control of the car. He went off Southwest Macadam Avenue, through a thin tree line and then landed in the middle of the playground of the daycare, about 40 feet below.

It took 8 or 10 people to get the driver out, according to an eyewitness who also helped with rescuing the driver from the wreck. The car had landed on the driver’s side and, as you can see in the video available at the bottom of the page, it took extensive damage.

However, once the driver was extricated, he was able to walk on his own. He was pretty shaken up, but he was otherwise fine - “like nothing happened,” says the eyewitness for the same media outlet. Police arrived and interviewed him at the scene, and then took him to the hospital for a checkout, as a precaution.

Luckily, the incident happened outside working hours for the daycare, or else the car could have landed on kids playing. It was, as they say, a string of happy coincidences that prevented this from being a fatal crash. The fact that Model 3 was recently awarded a 5-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was no coincidence in how the driver escaped serious injury.

The report also notes that “a small fire broke out while crews were attempting to remove the Tesla, but it was quickly put out.”