A Tesla test drive through California’s Santa Cruz Mountains ended with the Model Y across the centerline, an oncoming Honda badly damaged, and three people headed to the hospital.

The Aug. 30 crash happened on Highway 84 near Memory Lane in La Honda. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Tesla driver had been taking two photographers for a ride after a Cars and Coffee gathering when the trip went wrong.

For people who live around the twisting mountain highway, the wreck landed in the middle of a fight that was already underway. Residents had been complaining that drivers and motorcyclists treated Highway 84 and nearby roads as more like a racetrack than a way home.

The crash gave them a particularly vivid example. One of the passengers recorded the ride from inside the Tesla.

Across The Line

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The cellphone video shows the Model Y moving through a series of curves before veering into the opposing lane. The Chronicle reported that California Highway Patrol Officer Sophie Lu said the Tesla was speeding when it crossed the double yellow line and struck the Honda.

The two passengers in the Tesla and the 70-year-old Honda driver were taken to Stanford Medical Center. The Honda driver suffered major injuries. CHP identified the Tesla driver only as a 21-year-old man, and the Chronicle reported that his condition was unclear.

Joseph Krempetz, who lives nearby, heard tires screeching and horns outside his home before heading toward the noise with a medical bag. He told the Chronicle the Aug. 30 wreck was the sixth crash he had witnessed around La Honda this year. He said he had seen two more since.

The timing added another wrinkle. The ride began after a Cars and Coffee event at the Ambassador Wine Garden that drew roughly 150 people and an assortment of performance and luxury cars. The Chronicle reported that Tesla sales representatives were among the vendors and that one representative offered the two photographers the Model Y test ride.

Already On Edge

The argument over these roads was well underway before that gathering.

In August, The Almanac documented the growing weekend car and motorcycle scene around the Four Corners intersection, where Highway 84 meets Highway 35 near Alice’s Restaurant in Woodside. Residents and cyclists were already pressing for stronger enforcement and roadway changes after deadly crashes in the area.

The attraction is easy to understand. Highway 84 and the surrounding mountain roads combine tight curves, redwood forest, elevation changes, and stretches of pavement within driving distance of the Bay Area. The same characteristics that make the roads appealing to recreational drivers also leave little margin when a vehicle crosses the centerline.

Some local businesses have tried to separate car culture from reckless driving. The Almanac reported that a sign outside Alice’s Restaurant tells visitors, “This is our community. No racing.”

Residents have adopted their own version. Karyn Ellis, who lives in the area, has made signs and bumper stickers carrying a more highway-specific message: “Highway 84, not your racetrack.”

A Road In Demand

The state is already doing work on part of the corridor, although it is not a response to the Aug. 30 crash or the complaints about hobby drivers.

Caltrans began a resurfacing project Sept. 14 on Highway 84 between La Honda and Woodside. Crews are grinding, paving, and restriping the roadway, with work expected to continue through winter. Caltrans said the project is intended to extend the pavement’s life and improve roadway safety.

The harder question is what to do about speed itself. According to the Chronicle, San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller and Assemblymember Marc Berman are considering the possible inclusion of La Honda and nearby communities in California’s speed-camera pilot program. CHP and sheriff’s deputies had also increased enforcement around the Aug. 30 Cars and Coffee event at Mueller’s request.

For the people who use Highway 84 as their neighborhood road, the issue is less abstract. Krempetz has begun carrying a medical bag to crashes. Ellis is putting the warning on lawns and bumpers. At Four Corners, another sign tells drivers the same thing in fewer words: this is a community, not a track.

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