It was a really rough day for one unidentified driver in Carlsbad, California. His horoscope didn’t warn him about what was in store for him, though he was lucky enough to survive. While attempting to evade police, he “flew off a cliff.” Cops caught up to what was left of his crashed sedan on the beach and quickly rendered first aid.
Driver flies off cliff
This southern California driver is probably thinking that he should have pulled over when cops tried to stop him. Then again, being able to tell your friends you flew a sedan off a cliff at 50 miles an hour almost makes it worth it. Since he survived.
The fugitive “landed upside down on the beach following a police pursuit.” There isn’t much left of the car.
The makers of the airbag technology which prevented the sudden and untimely demise of the driver warn there’s no guarantee it will work every time.
That’s a heads up to young motorists with social media accounts. Intentionally launching your car off a similar cliff for clicks isn’t worth the risk.
Shortly before going airborne at around 4 p.m. on Monday, “the driver had crashed into a fence at Carlsbad’s Fleet Maintenance Department building about 4 miles away.” That’s what caused officers to make chase. It also indicates he was probably more than a little intoxicated, which could be a contributing factor to his survival.
The more relaxed you are, the better your chances. Wrecking crews typically find the really drunk drivers curled up in a ball under the passenger dash, with the rest of the car crumpled around them. And they ask for another beer. In this case, “police do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor.” Perhaps it was a medical emergency.
Pursuit called off
The police weren’t recklessly chasing a drunk or otherwise incapacitated driver around southern California at high speed but they were following him. After refusing to stop for officers, when he got near the cliffs, “the pursuit was called off due to safety concerns.”
They still had him in clear sight when, “minutes later,” police “watched the vehicle drive right off the edge of the cliff and onto South Carlsbad State Beach dozens of feet down.” Ouch.
A witness headed toward Encinas describes seeing cops behind the problem driver “before watching the vehicle go over the ledge.” Wow. That wasn’t something you see every day.
“I at first thought it was a regular traffic stop when I saw him, but when I saw the four police vehicles following him, I was like, ‘this is definitely something different,‘” It was different, alright.
“I saw the car go off the cliff. It sounded like an explosion, honestly. It was similar to a firework. It was just one big thud. It sounded like a wave breaking — a really hard wave. It was insane.”
A second witness, Michael Shryock, relates, “it didn’t have any abnormal speeds, just looked like someone driving down coast with cops behind and his hazard lights on going 40, 50 miles per hour, then drove off the cliff.” Despite critical injuries, “the driver is expected to survive,” police confirm.
