An absent-minded mistake led to a Toyota BZ4x owner watching in horror as his car rolled into the ocean in Lynn, Massachusetts on Wednesday. Evidently, the man thought the car was in park and when he got out momentarily, the electric SUV rolled away. One other man was in the car at the time and managed to escape without injury. The Toyota is a goner though.
The two men were sitting at the Blossom Street Pier Ferry Terminal near the boat ramp having lunch. When the driver exited the car to throw some trash away mere feet from the SUV, it headed for the ocean. Reports say that the passenger, Gerry Cardona, made a mad dash attempt at stopping the car but to no avail.
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“I started feeling the car rolling a little bit. I grabbed a snow brush to try to stop it, and it wouldn’t stop… Next thing you know, I did everything I could, rolled down the window, and I climbed out and jumped in the water,” he told local news station Boston 10. By the time that fire and rescue arrived, Cardona was safely back on shore.
At that stage, authorities began the work of recovering the car which required a small boat and collaboration between the tow truck company and the local fire department.
Saltwater and batteries don’t mix well
According to the US Coast Guard, saltwater intrusion into EV batteries can lead to a fire risk. While it’s unlikely that the car would have caught fire underwater, it is plausible that it could still have a thermal event long after the incident.