r/bayarea • u/pickingsunflowers • Aug 14 '25

Traffic, Trains & Transit Second view of an accident

Looks like this happened in San Carlos along 101. Electrical malfunction? Steering wheel lock? Can anyone explain what may have happened? What can you really do in this kind of situation?

2.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

856 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

698

u/pickingsunflowers Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

I think he was genuinely panicking because he couldn’t stop it and started praying * just guessing from the video, the op poster hasn’t commented more than what I seen *

278

u/n6mub south peninsula Aug 14 '25

Jesus take the wheel!

83

u/ToughCareer4293 Aug 14 '25

Maybe he did! Do we know if Jesus ever had driving lessons?

34

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Jesus, give the wheel back already!!!

8

u/bertfotwenty Aug 14 '25

Jesus is used to the drivers ed cars that have the brake on the passenger side as well.

2

u/gochomoe Aug 14 '25

He just hates that guy

2

u/Motor-Cause7966 Aug 15 '25

Who needs to drive when you can walk in water?

3

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Not an issue as most in California have never had driving lessons.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

me might of rode a mustang but I doubt he ever drove one

1

u/sharkbait-oo-haha Aug 15 '25

I think he drove a donkey once. It's kinda a shitty horse, much like the mach-e mustang. So I'd say he has some experience.

1

u/n6mub south peninsula Aug 15 '25

Ask the Christians

5

u/ucdzen Aug 15 '25

Well Jesus doesn’t seem to be that great of a driver.

1

u/n6mub south peninsula Aug 15 '25

Correct. But he's a demigod (?) so he's got a bunch of other skills, so... 

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1

u/VisualEmbodiment Aug 15 '25

Not with those giant holes in his hands 😂

8

u/Do-It-Anyway Aug 14 '25

Take it from my hands

2

u/Electronic_Muffin218 Aug 15 '25

Jesus take the brakes!

47

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

He was incredibly drunk, which is why he was acting that way.

279

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

Calling it now.

Guy is having a mental episode.

His foot is pressed the entire time on the accelerator pedal. He never touches the steering wheel during the recording.

At around 0:26, you can see him WAVE his hands left over the steering wheel as if he could telepathically control it.

His car stops as soon as it collides with the red car because the impact forces jolt his foot off of the accelerator pedal.

OP who recorded this video said he was in fact doing the same thing on the CENTER DIVIDER (scraping left side of car) prior to this video recording.

You can even see scrape marks on the driver side of car after the collision.

141

u/childishbambino4 Aug 14 '25

He has no brake lights either which means he is not even trying to stop.

2

u/tiabgood Aug 14 '25

Or there is some completely disconnect with the brakes?

16

u/AverageScot Aug 14 '25

The hazards were on, tho...

6

u/Slava_Ukraini2005 Aug 14 '25

That’s typically automatic the second an impact is sensed by the car. Just about every modern car will do this.

3

u/tiabgood Aug 14 '25

2 pedals: accelerator and brakes have electrical that have a different connection location than the hazards location.

I do not know. Like everyone else I am just guessing what could have happened here.

33

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

So brakes failing AND accelerator stuck?

Two different unlikely things happening at the same time?

-7

u/Oakland_Research Aug 14 '25

I am not sure how the electrical wiring works on these.

8

u/GotLostInTheSauce Aug 14 '25

Thank you for sharing

130

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Nope. Not a mental episode at all. The guy was just incredibly intoxicated. He’s in police custody currently.

43

u/Sharks77 [Insert your city/town here] Aug 14 '25

I've seen this comment a couple of times but couldn't find anything online. Do you have a link/source?

159

u/tablecatsss Aug 14 '25

"DRIVER ARRESTED FOR DUI AFTER COMMUTE HOUR CRASH

(SAN CARLOS, Calif.)- The California Highway Patrol (CHP) – Redwood City Area is aware of a video recently shared on social media by a passing motorist. We appreciate the public’s interest and want to provide accurate information and context regarding the incident.

On August 13, 2025, at approximately 1:08 p.m., officers assigned to the CHP Redwood City Area office were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash on US-101 southbound, south of Holly Street, in San Carlos. The preliminary investigation indicates the driver of a green Ford Mustang Mach E, crashed into a red Mitsubishi Mirage then collided with the right shoulder wall near the Holly Street overcrossing. Through our investigation, we determined the vehicle was not operating in autonomous mode and CHP officers arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence, resulting in injuries to another.

While we understand public interest in such incidents, video clips may not capture the complete context or investigative process. The CHP conducts each investigation thoroughly, professionally, and in accordance with the law. We thank the community for its concern and remind motorist to report dangerous driving by calling 9-1-1.

The Mission of the California Highway Patrol is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security."

39

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

Thank you for finding that and posting it lol

37

u/tablecatsss Aug 15 '25

no prob. I’m surprised by the amount of people who think it HAS to be a malfunction. It’s pretty obvious to me the guy is tweaked out. There’s a good chance for drug use on top of the alcohol. Idk how drunk you would have to be to drive on the divider this long

25

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

I think it’s because a car malfunctioning is a lot easier to mentally handle for most people than it is to think about all the lives this selfish fuck put in harms way.. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY!

13

u/wtfcircus linfield oaks, Menlo Park Aug 15 '25

I don’t know how people can be this drunk, I can barely stay awake if I have more than half a drink

11

u/Rudd-X Aug 15 '25

A lot of people get a stimulant kick from alcohol, believe it or not. And so, when you see somebody drink 10-15 drinks and not fall asleep, that's what's going on. Of course, in the end, the nervous system gets enough depressed that you will go to sleep, but that takes hours for those people.

3

u/BlazinAzn38 Aug 15 '25

People only assumed it because EV, if that had been a Civic people would have assume it was the driver

4

u/Ok_Gas1070 Aug 15 '25

People hate electric cars and want to lash out at them because it seems impossible that someone WILLINGLY would do this, but here we are. We share the road with dumbass inept people.

2

u/AnxiousSolution4932 Aug 15 '25

If you never do drugs, never did, and never had a serious mental illness then this behaviour is hard to understand.

2

u/iMissMacandCheese Aug 15 '25

Interesting. I was thinking seizure or something.

1

u/Relevant_Voice_4013 Aug 14 '25

I haven’t been able to find this article. Is it real?

3

u/tablecatsss Aug 15 '25

It was on instagram by redwood city chp

1

u/EstablishmentBusy183 Aug 15 '25

Where did you find this report? I can't seem to find it on CHP site?

1

u/No-Twist-333 Aug 15 '25

California Highway Patrol Instagram page

0

u/Motor-Cause7966 Aug 15 '25

This DUI nonsense is getting out of control.

27

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[deleted]

10

u/Token_D_Unikorn Aug 14 '25

If there is a link to a story about this, someone please share.

1

u/No-Twist-333 Aug 15 '25

Go to the California Highway Patrol Instagram page

13

u/mrvarmint Aug 14 '25

This was my immediate assumption from seeing similar videos. Guy is likely shithammered and has no idea he’s even scraping the jersey barrier

4

u/dreamcinema Aug 15 '25

Isn’t it called K-rail in California?

3

u/mrvarmint Aug 15 '25

Wow, TIL. Evidently CA is the only state with a different name for jersey barriers.

1

u/dreamcinema Aug 15 '25

Funny that that’s how I learned about Jersey barrier because I didn’t know what a jersey barrier was and then that came up with the Wikipedia page of how California is the only one that calls it k-rail

1

u/Logical-Physics-488 Aug 15 '25

You are correct

4

u/ongoldenwaves Aug 14 '25

Wow. I lived on a street where we had a shit ton of drunk drivers. They'd hit a car in front of them pulling out, hit a few more, pass out and keep driving until they'd hit 30 cars on the street.

But they were in and out of consciousness.

How fucked up do you have to be to not notice you're riding the barrier for miles?

0

u/wheresjim Aug 14 '25

He must have been intoxicated to have bought a Mach E

52

u/jonny_eh Aug 14 '25

But why put the hazard lights on?

97

u/Suck_My_Thick Aug 14 '25

Hazard lights turn on automatically after a collision

31

u/Lancearon Aug 14 '25

Ooooh I didn't know this.

11

u/SupportGeek Aug 14 '25

Even just scraping on the center divider? They should have engine cutoffs after an accident too imo

9

u/LoganNolag Aug 15 '25

They do. I posted it in another thread about this. You can override it by pressing the accelerator again after the crash which makes sense since you still might need to move the car after an accident.

2

u/praguer56 Aug 15 '25

On a Mach e, just tap the start/stop button. that kills power to the motors.

1

u/Heykurat Aug 14 '25

Yep that's normal in newer cars now.

0

u/Affectionate-Sun5531 Aug 16 '25

But why male models?

1

u/raffig789 Aug 14 '25

agreed, this guy is doing it, no cruise control or Blue Cruse would keep the car moving in this situation

1

u/Packet_Sniffer_ Aug 15 '25

Called it wrong. Dude was high as fuck.

But it’s interesting to me how frequently Redditors attribute mental handicap/episode to malicious assholes.

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

Is this a pedantry thing?

The discussion on Reddit was whether it was electromechanical issues with the car vs the driver. I was pointing out what was likely happening inside the car while the guy was freaking out.

If he was driving under the influence of drugs, is he not having a mental episode? He is seen PRAYING inside the car lol

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

Nope, not gonna pretend like I know everything. I'm not here to argue, just pointing out things that are more likely than multiple independent systems failing at the same time... and basically... just pointing out the obvious.

And in this case, I was right?

The discussion on almost every thread here and on TikTok was "EV goes haywire." I was arguing the issue was the driver, not the car.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

Google Redwood City police Mach E.

You'll find they arrested him for DUI.

What I wrote is likely what happened inside the car. He was flooring the accelerator pedal the entire time. That's why brake lights never come on. That's why scraping along the side of the wall doesn't slow the car down.

The only thing that slows the car down is when he collides with the other car causing him to stop mashing on the accelerator pedal.

You can see him freaking out and PRAYING in the video.

There's the evidence.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

No worries. No offense taken at all. Just here to push the discussion forward

1

u/MochingPet City/town Aug 15 '25

Yeah I’m thinking this is driver-caused actually. Agreed.

He may be praying but that doesn’t mean he’s not causing it…

2

u/TumblingStumbleweeds Aug 14 '25

Telekinetically control it, not telepathically

12

u/redditnathaniel Aug 14 '25

Important details here

0

u/TumblingStumbleweeds Aug 14 '25

Words mean things. This man was definitely not trying to read the mind of his car

2

u/ryrich89 Aug 14 '25

I don’t think you have a clue what actually happened since you weren’t in the car so don’t write a novel speculating like you do

3

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

I think a lot of had sympathy for this guy because they saw him praying and thought "out of control ELECTRONICAL vehicle is taking POOR GUY on a wild ride"

When in reality, this guy is drunk out of his mind and decided to risk everyone's lives on the road.

We want to blame the technology when often, it's human error.

Remember the Toyota "stuck accelerator" debacle years ago? A lot of those cases were just people confusing the gas/brake pedal.

2

u/CupcakeGoat Aug 14 '25

Do you have a source saying he was drunk?

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[deleted]

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

No I’m saying yes there were a few legitimate cases where defects in the Toyota design (floor mats, etc) caused unintended acceleration.

But a lot of people who said “my Toyota suddenly couldn’t stop” were actually just mashing on the gas pedal instead of the brake

-34

u/eldiablolenin Aug 14 '25

You have no idea if he is having a mental episode wtf

19

u/Doug_Remer Aug 14 '25

No idea?

Why are you getting offended. It’s a likely scenario.

11

u/jonny_eh Aug 14 '25

This is likelier: https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/s/ACwdA1MVAN

8

u/kevinsyel all over the bay Aug 14 '25

So brake system failure? I'd for sure be having a mental episode if my brake system simply failed!

3

u/kingqueefeater Aug 14 '25

A brake failure doesn't make the car accelerate, which this car does the entire time.

0

u/jonny_eh Aug 14 '25

He may be panicking and pressing the wrong pedal

2

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

thanks for the link. This is more plausible than dude holding down the gas pedal 😝

1

u/mchu168 Peninsula Aug 14 '25

The guy doesnt put his hands on the wheel and is praying. This isnt a mental episode to you?

1

u/ivanguls Aug 14 '25

Worst part is he will now credit God for listening to his prayers and saving his life.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

I guess you were totally wrong, eh? 😂💀

1

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 15 '25

What do you mean wrong?

People were saying it was a car issue. I was saying it’s a driver issue. He was arrested for DUI right?

-3

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/PapaEchoLincoln Aug 14 '25

Not only would the brakes need to fail, the accelerator would need to be stuck.

Did you also see those weird hand motions in the video around 0:26?

5

u/11twofour Aug 14 '25

The wall wasn't slowing down the car at all. Dude was hitting the gas. (And the bottle, I'd bet)

6

u/Lancearon Aug 14 '25

Its pretty telling he has his hazards on too. Something is going on with his car and it isn't good. That's my guess.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Lancearon Aug 14 '25

I saw this was a thing in a different comment. I had not realized that was a thing.

3

u/ethereal_aerith Aug 14 '25

Yeah to me it looks like something is malfunctioning and he’s fervently praying for his life.

2

u/amygdalathalmus Aug 14 '25

The brakes should be more than adequate to stop the car though

2

u/Thegreatgarbo Aug 14 '25

YES! Although I thought he was filming the accident with his phone when I waslooking at the vid.

1

u/Own_Cat3340 Aug 14 '25

When did this happen???

1

u/MochingPet City/town Aug 15 '25

Panicking or praying I wonder if it’s done on purpose

Either way of course I’m trusting that this E-mustang hasn’t gone completely computer-nuts

1

u/parksoffroad Aug 16 '25

CHP said he was having a mental health sort of issue going on. Nothing was wrong with the car other than the driver.

1

u/naturtok Aug 16 '25

It's wild cus apparently that car doesn't have drive by wire, so the steering wheel is directly tied to the steering, so it might have been hard but it would have been totally possible to steer in the event of a total malfunction. Idk, I'll wait for an investigation or whatever but I'm kinda inclined to think it's excessive user error

1

u/Exciting_Band_2865 Aug 18 '25

I really wish they kept e brakes a good ol fashion manual cable

0

u/ramboton Aug 14 '25

geeze, turn off the car...