Metal or concrete barriers acting as traffic dividers are plain ugly; there’s no way around that assessment. But they’re also unsung heroes because they’re designed to protect oncoming vehicles from potentially fatal head-on collisions. And they do their job very well, as recently exemplified by footage provided by the Tesla Owners Oregon YouTube channel.
While there aren’t many details about the owner of the Tesla EV that captured the intense moment, and we don’t even know what exact model created by the California-based company was on the road, we have a feeling that anyone who was inside the car at the time now feels like the luckiest person alive.
That’s because if not for the dividers, we have a feeling this crash would have also involved the EV as well. But let’s put all the facts into perspective first. According to the on-screen report, the violent airborne rollover accident occurred earlier this month (May 10th, around 10:30 a.m.) in Portland, Oregon.
The Tesla was driving on Highway 217 at I-5 when another car crashed through the barrier at what seemed like a rather high speed and became airborne. It even flipped in the process of almost going past the physical obstacle before coming to a halt in a nearby steep embankment in thick brush.
Apparently, two people were inside the vehicle at the time, and although access was rather hard, it seems the firefighters and first responders managed to have them out of the wreck within the hour. Every moment matters, as always, especially since the report mentions they incurred serious injuries.
No exact cause for the accident has been determined; still, yet to be confirmed details mention a possible medical issue as the point of origin for the debacle. Now, let's get back to the Tesla that caught the amazing footage, which is shot from the car’s right side.
As far as we can tell, if those dividers weren’t there, this might have turned into a nightmare for the Tesla owner as well, because it seems the other car hit the barrier exactly when the EV was passing by. It might not have turned into a head-on collision, but most likely, it would have still clipped the side. Luck, and above all, those ugly slabs of concrete is what probably prevented the additional crash.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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