A freak accident worthy of a Final Destination movie was recorded by a Tesla dashcam on the 118 Freeway near Los Angeles in California. The driver of a first-generation Kia Soul was minding their own business when a loose wheel from a modified Chevrolet Silverado smashed into the small boxy hatchback. The poor soul (pun intended) driving the Kia was the victim of exceptionally bad timing and quite likely a faulty wheel spacer and/or lug nut.
The front-left wheel that detached from the lifted and widened truck catapulted the Soul up in the air in an impromptu stunt suitable for a Burnout video game. The subcompact hatch spun into the air and eventually landed back on all four wheels. To make matters worse, the Silverado’s loose wheel came back to the scene of the crime and hit the Kia yet again, this time colliding with the vehicle’s rear.
According to Twitter user Anoop_Khatra who drove the Tesla that recorded the peculiar incident, the person behind the wheel of the Kia got out of the car without any serious injuries. Thankfully, there weren’t any passengers inside the vehicle. We can see the Tesla suddenly swerving to the right to avoid the rouge tire as the driver says Autopilot was active.
A similar accident took place a couple of years ago on Interstate 80 outside of Gary, Indiana where a Toyota RAV4 hit a loose wheel. It flipped a few times while in the air and landed on its wheels. If you haven’t seen the wild footage, we’ve attached it below.
If there is a silver lining when scary accidents like this happen, it’s that they bring out the advancements made in car safety. Imagine that Kia or Toyota being from the 1970s and those people inside the cars might not be alive today to tell the story.
