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Video obtained by The Almanac shows a Tesla reaching over 80 mph in a marked 35 mph zone shortly before it lost control and collided head-on with a Honda on Highway 84 near Memory Lane in La Honda. The crash on Aug. 30 occurred after a car meet organized by 9burgring, a social media account for car enthusiasts with nearly 20,000 followers.
The incident left several people injured. The organizer said the car meet was hosted by Ambassador Wine Garden, which had secured liability insurance for the event.
9burgring creator Ethan Garabedian said the driver was representing Tesla at the event and taking photographers on a test drive as the meet ended. Tesla did not respond to The Almanac’s request to confirm the driver’s employment.
The video, taken by a passenger in the back seat beginning a minute before the crash, shows passengers jostling around as the vehicle speeds up. It ends with screeching tires as the driver loses control and the screen goes blank.
The Honda driver suffered major injuries, while the Tesla driver complained of pain, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Sophie Lu. Passengers suffered minor injuries, she added.
The incident is still under investigation, according to the CHP.
9burgring aims to build community among local car enthusiasts by partnering with local businesses in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Garabedian said. 9burgring started as a social media page five years ago and has grown to host in-person community events.
The organization has held car meets at the Skywood Trading Post, The Mountain House and Apple Jack’s, according to 9burgring.
Garabedian told The Almanac that he had partnered with Tesla in the past but has never experienced an incident like this. He said the company has yet to take responsibility for the driver’s actions.
Reckless driving and speeding have been a growing concern among local residents in areas including Woodside, La Honda and Kings Mountain — many of whom are involved in local efforts and petitions to warn out-of-towners that unsafe driving is not tolerated.
The effort gained momentum after East Palo Alto cyclist Jakub Solovsky died in a head-on collision with a speeding Porsche on Highway 35 in July.
At the nearby intersection of highways 35 and 84, also known as Four Corners, signs have been placed by residents that say “Not My Racetrack.” Cars in the parking lot of Alice’s Restaurant can be spotted with bumper stickers with the same phrase.
“Car organizations in the area have had a particularly bad reputation among the locals that live there because they assume that one bad batch of people that are there to race and cause havoc means that every single person that’s a car enthusiast inherently shares that value,”Garabedian said.
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller said his liaison learned about the 9burgring event from Ambassador Wine Garden.
Representatives from CHP, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Mueller’s office met with Garabedian and community members before the car meet. Garabedian said the meeting was intended to create solutions on how they can work collaboratively on solutions to ensure the event went smoothly.
Mueller said, however, that the meeting was organized so his office and community members could confront Garabedian about reckless driving in the area. It was intended to hold the organization accountable and facilitate an opportunity for the community to meet with the organizer and share accident and injury information, said Mueller.
“That is not the county condoning the event, that is the county meaning to warn them,” Mueller told The Almanac. “I am grossly disgusted there was an accident that day with people who were attending the event.”
Mueller attended the last few minutes of the event to directly speak with event attendees and hand out flyers about the county’s zero tolerance for risky behavior on the road. He was in the area to thank officers who were impounding a vehicle in the vicinity of the car meet, he explained.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gretchen Spiker said during the meeting that personnel raised concerns about “the anticipated increase in traffic and potential traffic-safety issues that could result” from the event.
“Sheriff’s Office personnel advised the organizers against holding the event as part of our ongoing efforts to deter activities that may create traffic and public-safety concerns in our community,” Spiker said.
Garabedian said 9burgring is being blamed for the collision and his business partners have cut ties with him because they fear community backlash. He said the events were also intended to support local businesses during the off-season.
“Our event pipeline for the next year is completely annihilated as a result of this,” Garabedian said. “Locals have been saying that we’re culpable, that we were complicit. They’re thinking that we instructed the Tesla driver to drive like a maniac, which is completely incorrect.”
He said 9burgring does not condone reckless driving and it doesn’t promote it. When videos are posted to the social media account, it is to provide footage of behavior that the organization does not support, Garabedian explained.
The Woodside Town Council will hold a study session to discuss safety and enforcement on state highways in the area at 6 p.m. on Sept. 22.
