Skip to main content

Dash cam captures the dramatic moment a SpaceX rocket launch led to a car crash

Rocket in the Sky plus Accident.
Discussions about distracted driving usually focus on smartphones, a device that you can
Recommended Videos
choose whether or not to use when you’re behind the wheel. Reach for your handset at 70 mph and suddenly you’re no longer in control of that large chunk of metal motoring along the freeway, and pretty much anything can happen.

But there are other kinds of distractions that we have absolutely no control over, and one of them appeared to cause a nasty smash on a Southern Californian freeway on the night of Friday, December 22.

We’re talking about rocket launches. Rocket launches by SpaceX, at night. Who wouldn’t be distracted by that?

A driver caught the entire incident on his dash cam as he traveled with his family along I-10 near Beaumont about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. As the video shows, minutes after SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base some 200 miles away at 5:30 p.m. on December 22, its bright trail illuminates the night sky.

For those traveling west, the dramatic trail appears right in front of them, clear for everyone to see. The occupants of the dash cam car, which by the sounds of it appear to be a mom, dad, and several kids, are understandably excited to see the rocket climbing in the night sky. But if you imagine that kind of reaction taking place in all of the cars along that stretch of freeway at the very same time, it’s perhaps little wonder a smash took place.

Seconds before it happens, the dash cam driver, who’s in the third lane, points out that “people are noticing [the rocket]” as the drivers ahead hit the brakes. Next, he voices concern about the driving behavior of one of his fellow road users, asking, “Is this guy an idiot?”

Then, as the traffic slows rapidly from about 65 mph to 35 mph, a car barrels into the back of another in the fourth lane, which then shunts into a third vehicle (at the 1:10 mark in the video above). The dash cam driver’s car is right where it’s happening, but his vehicle appears untouched by the nearby carnage. It’s not clear if there were any injuries.

A local news outlet said it received hundreds of phone calls from people as the rocket lit up the night sky, adding that many drivers pulled over to the side of the road “in stop-and-go traffic” caused by people’s curiosity.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Watch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon thrusters guide it to space station
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the space station.

SpaceX has shared a cool video showing the Crew Dragon’s Draco engines nudging the spacecraft toward the International Space Station (ISS).

The autonomous maneuver took place on Wednesday, April 27 and marked the arrival of SpaceX’s Crew-4 astronauts at the orbital outpost following a 16-hour voyage from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Read more
SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts are on their way to the space station
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew-4 astronauts launching from the Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX’s Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A at just after 3:50 a.m. ET (12:50 a.m. PT) on Wednesday, April 27.

NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, along with Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, are now on their way to the orbiting outpost with docking expected to take place on Wednesday evening. The crew will spend the next six months living and working aboard the station 250 miles above Earth.

Read more
How to watch SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts launch to ISS
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral.

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

NASA and SpaceX are making final preparations for the launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. The Crew-4 astronauts were originally supposed to launch on Saturday, April 23, but due to the late departure from the ISS of the Ax-1 mission, the mission won't get underway until Wednesday, April 27, at the earliest.

Read more