In San Mateo, Northern California, Dharmesh Arvind Patel was driving his wife, 7-year-old daughter, and 4-year-old son when they drove off a 250 ft. cliff on January 2, 2023 at 11 A.M. The family lived in nothing short of a miracle as the car looks to have flipped multiple times on the fall. 

Following the fatal drop, Patel and his family were stuck in the car before being rescued by multiple responder agencies. Subsequently, the family was taken to the hospital with no major injuries. Patel was then arrested on account of allegations of child endangerment and attempted murder.

There are no updates yet as to Patel’s current legal status. He was arrested on January 2nd and is currently contained in San Mateo County Jail now. There are many questions of whether this was an act of child endangerment and attempted murder or an accident all together. 

As Patel was driving a Tesla, here investigators have raised suspicion about Tesla’s Autopilot capabilities as a contributing factor to the accident was on but many have agreed that it is not completely plausible for this to have been a contributor to the event. Ciena Olsen (9) shares how “[The crash] was a miracle. I think because the Tesla is more like a robot than a car, it helped the family survive.”

The area where the car slid down the cliff is known as “Devil’s Slide,” named for its frequent disastrous crashes. The officers and firefighters that reported to the scene were amazed that the family lived. Battalion chief for Coastside Fire Protection District/Cal Fire, Brian Pottenger said, “We go there all the time for cars over the cliff and they never live.” Pottenger called the event  “an absolute miracle.”

Shaun Bouyea, California Highway Patrol Officer, helped rescue the family from the car and said that the responders seeing the children moving around in the car “changed the tone” of the rescue. He noted that seeing the movement from what would be typically a fatal accident gave them hope.