Rookie Kia Driver Flips Car Over On Beach After Gear Shift Mixup | Carscoops
Good thing there were no people occupying that specific area of the beach when the accident occurred
2 hours ago
A beautiful sunny day at Sydney’s Balmoral Beach in Australia took a dramatic turn when a Kia Seltos crashed through a concrete fence and overturned on the sand. Fortunately, no one was injured in what seems to have been a rookie mistake by the Kia driver while attempting to exit a parking spot.
CCTV video footage captured the incident involving a seemingly new Kia Seltos with P-Plates, which are issued to new drivers in Australia. Apparently, the rookie driver mistakenly engaged Drive instead of Reverse and accelerated, causing the vehicle to go on an unexpected journey towards the beach. Without applying the brakes, the Kia collided with the concrete wall and ended up turning over near the shoreline.
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Beachgoers watched in awe, fearing the worst as the vehicle crashed, as it could have landed on people. Thankfully, no one was using this specific patch of the beach at the time of the accident, although a family was seen leaving the spot a few minutes earlier. The area was bustling due to the sunny weather and the start of the school holidays As reported by 7News Australia, the incident took place at 1:15 pm last Monday.
According to the police, the 33-year old female driver sustained minor injuries that were treated at the scene, while the 55-year-old male passenger walked away unharmed. Bystanders reported that the woman was apologizing to everyone for her driving which was attributed to an error. The red P-plate sign on the tailgate indicates that the woman held a provisional driver’s license, meaning that less than 12 months had passed since her test.
A crane removed the seriously damaged Kia Seltos from the beach and towed it away. The vehicle was kept in the same upside-down position, in a quest to reduce any spills. Local reports suggest that the wall will take weeks to fix, while the SUV could be deemed a write-off. Thankfully, the silver lining here is that everyone involved emerged unscathed, left with a rather peculiar tale to share.