A passenger-carrying Uber lost control Monday night, careening off-road and into a nearby gas station. The unusual accident resulted in serious injuries for the driver of a second vehicle, but the Uber driver was unharmed.
KOMO News Seattle reports that the accident began around 8pm PT Monday evening, when the Uber driver (in a 2007 Nissan X-Terra) was speeding through Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood. Witnesses saw the driver clip a Honda Accord, which then spun into a tree and split in half. The SUV driver tried to brake and lost control—possibly after getting a flat tire. The SUV then flew over a curb toward a Shell station. While it missed the first two gas pumps, the vehicle struck the third, transforming the pump into a ball of fire.
Witnesses tell me a speeding driver hit this car… Causing it to go off the road & hit a tree. The car was split in half. #komonews pic.twitter.com/QRnHtdZp7U
— Steve McCarron KOMO (@SteveTVNews) March 14, 2017
Thankfully, firefighters quickly put out the flames. The Uber driver was unharmed, the passenger had minor injuries, and the Honda Accord driver suffered more serious injuries. The whole thing was caught on surveillance camera footage, though, which you can watch below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2y9X4P3pNg
Authorities are unclear whether the Uber driver was impaired at the time of the accident, but they took a blood sample for testing. In the meantime, an Uber spokesperson said the driver’s been removed from the app. The company says it will work with the Seattle Police Department during its investigation into the accident.
Over the years, Uber drivers have committed a number of scandalous incidents, from sexually harassing female passengers to being arrested during a ride. Uber drivers do undergo a background check before being allowed to drive, but it’s been criticized for not actually fingerprinting potential drivers during these checks.
H/T Mashable