Australians on vacation at Balmoral Beach witnessed a bizarre crash on Monday after a young woman drove a Kia Seltos into a concrete barrier, flipping the crossover clean over onto a part of the beach that was luckily unoccupied at the time, as 7 News Australia reports.
The 33-year old woman driving the Kia was accompanied by a 55-year old man, but neither the driver nor passenger were seriously hurt. And no one else was harmed in the crash. The woman was reportedly trying to reverse from her parking space but “suddenly lurched forward,” per the New York Post. That conveys an awkward approach, but the woman drove the Seltos directly into the concrete at a quick clip, as crash footage from 7 News shows:
The driver accelerated towards the barrier at least quickly enough to clear the concrete separating Balmoral Beach’s grassy embankment from the shoreline, which was full of sunbathers and beachgoers who were out and about during a school holiday that runs through early October.
Witnesses say a family was on the same patch of sand moments before the Kia Seltos flipped over onto the beach. Others who witnessed the crash feared that a bystander may have been pinned beneath the crossover, but that was luckily not the case. Both the driver and passenger managed to exit the vehicle safely, and first responders treated the two for minor injuries at the scene of the crash. A special tow truck was brought in to recover the Kia by using a crane, which would help avoid spilling any more gasoline onto the beach, as 9 News reports.
Sydney police claim to have breath-tested the driver for alcohol, but the test came back negative, suggesting that the driver was sober at the time. The Kia Seltos did, however, bear a “P-plate,” meaning that the 33-year old would have been driving with a provisional driver’s license. That would indicate the driver is not fully-licensed yet, and it’s possible that she’s still learning how to operate her vehicle safely. Either way, it’s all about smooth inputs. That is, whether a car is in Drive or Reverse, there’s no need to gun it at the parking lot. Ever.