Driver of Tesla that fell 250 feet off California cliff arrested; all four occupants survived the fall

A Tesla plunged 250 feet off a cliff in San Mateo County, California on Monday, but all the four occupants of the car survived the fall. There were two adults and two children, aged four and seven, in the car at the time of the incident and all of them have been rescued. They were travelling on the Pacific Coast Highway when the car went over the cliff at Devil’s Slide, south of the Tom Lantos tunnel. It landed near the water’s edge, the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit said.

The driver has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse, the California Highway Patrol said.

He has been identified as Dharmesh APatel from Pasadena, California, and will be booked into San Mateo County Jail after he’s released from the hospital.

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Cal Fire/Coastside Fire Incident Commander Brian Pottenger told reporters that the car landed on its wheels.

"It’s fairly common that we get vehicles off these cliffs," Pottenger said. However, it is “very, very rare” for people to survive such a steep fall.

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“We were actually very shocked when we found survivable victims in the vehicle. So that actually was a really hopeful moment for us,” Pottenger said.

Firefighters reached the scene and rescued the children first while the adults waited for helicopters to carry them to safety.

Pottenger said both kids were in car seats that "saved their lives."

"The car seats actually did their job. Amazingly, they stayed in place. They were intact, and there was no damage to them," he said.

Videos shared by the California Highway Patrol showed helicopters lowering rescuers to lift the adults.

All of them were transferred to Stanford Medical Center. While the children suffered minor musculoskeletal injuries, the adults sustained moderate traumatic injuries in several areas.

The highway patrol is investigating what caused the accident. However, they said that the vehicles didn't seem to be in self-driving mode at the time of the accident.

(With inputs from agencies)

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