Authorities with the California Highway Patrol are investigating a wild crash that sent a car and its 29-year-old driver careening into a midair spin before crashing onto the road.
The crash, which was captured on video by a Tesla’s dashboard camera, occurred on March 23 in the eastbound lanes of the 118 Freeway near De Soto Avenue in Chatsworth.
The video shows a dark-colored Kia approaching a Chevrolet pickup that had just transitioned into the middle lane. Moments later, the front driver’s side tire of the truck pops off in front of the Kia, sending the Kia into a midair spin before crashing onto the freeway hood-first, and then rolling upright.
“It just shows when you’re simply driving down the freeway, some pretty dramatic things can happen really quickly,” CHP Officer Weston Haver told KTLA Monday.
Despite the violent crash, the 29-year-old Panorama woman driving the Kia was not seriously hurt and was able to walk away from her totaled car.
“Thankfully, that party that was in the Kia had very minor injuries … and that’s because (she) was wearing a seatbelt,” Haver said.
There is no indication that either driver in the video was speeding or driving recklessly. Haver says for now, it is unlikely that the driver of the pickup, a 24-year-old from Canoga Park, will face criminal charges.
“I know there are some reports that the party was trying to flee the scene, but he was simply pulling to the right shoulder, which if you can safely…do that because you don’t want other cars hitting you,” Haver said.
Officials with CHP are investigating whether the Chevy was modified, when it was last serviced, or anything else that may have caused the wheel to become loose.
The Tesla was also damaged by debris seen in the car’s dash-cam video flying off the Kia, but the driver, Anoop Khatra, was uninjured.