It was July 15th, the day the mother and the father of Rafael de Mestre got acquainted exactly 60 years ago.
A very normal trip by night as most of the trips, 3AM, wet, 6°C. He closes the charge port at the Supercharger in Rhüden and starts the last km towards the home of his girlfriend. After 500m of driving he feels tired and decides to drive back to the Supercharger to buy an energy drink. The one who knows giving him an awake kick always.
The cold liquid runs through his gullet and some minutes later he is awake, this much awake as if he never have been tired.
The navigation system indicates where to go and after some km driven he is wondering why the navigation system is sending him through the pampas but OK, he has time and enjoys the ride driving sort of slow, slower than normal, the system is showing an average speed of 42km/h.
A village, 50km/h, end of the village – allowed speed 100km/h, a curve to the right, …
Is is wet,
Rafael assumes a slippery road, a sharp right so better to slow down instead of accelerating after the end of village sign.
At 35km/h he turns the steering wheel smoothly – no reaction – and back – no reaction – adrenaline shoots into his veins – recalling all driving skills – the guardrail appears in the headlight – put the steering wheel straight – BRAKE – FULL BRAKE – no reaction – the car just follows a straight line as if it is pushed by an alien hand towards the abyss.
No, no, NO, NOOO, NOOO!!! Rafael is shouting NOOOO!!
The two tons keep pushing
CRASH! The first airbag opens and then all others follow. The front hood folds to a front shield preventing the branches from entering through the windshield. Several hits by branches make the glass fly in small pieces through the air in the mouth of Rafael who is held strongly by the seat belt, in a way that he hardly can breath. During the spitting of the pieces out of his mouth the car tips over to the driver’s side and the movement stops.
Rafael sees the catastrophe and finds his smartphone between his feet. He calls his girlfriend – no response. He calls the police, but the police doesn’t know how to locate him. The Tesla navigation system shows the point on L482. More precise it is not possible to check, the car is in a dead zone. A passing vehicle calls the police. Three fire brigade troops arrive.
The accident after 470,000 km
