You believe this is an 102 MPH impact damage? I don't.
Posted on 07/17/2026 8:10:48 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A Tesla driver was arrested and charged with murder this week after a mother and her baby died in a fiery crash on Highway 87 in San Jose. The Tesla driver, 31-year-old Zachary Chernicky of San Jose, was allegedly driving 142 mph seconds before he caused the deadly collision, according to prosecutors and the California Highway Patrol.
Two of the vehicles tangled in the four-car collision were Teslas that burst into flames on the busy highway on December 2, 2025, the CHP said.
Ivana Balistreri, 30, and her 2-year-old toddler, Lilliana, were passengers in a Lexus that also caught fire, according to family and investigators. The mother and toddler died, while the Lexus driver was hospitalized.
A lengthy investigation revealed that Chernicky was driving 142 mph 15 seconds before the crash, 126 mph 5 seconds before the crash, and 102 when he plowed into the back of the Lexus, prosecutors said Friday. The victims’ Lexus was stopped in heavy traffic on Highway 87 near Curtner Avenue when Chernicky’s speeding Tesla plowed into the back of it.
Balistreri and her baby “were burned to death in the crash,” the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office wrote. CHP officers conducted a months-long investigation to determine which driver caused the wreck.
CHP officials wrote, “After a thorough investigation, the driver of one of the Tesla’s, Zachary Chernicky from San Jose, was determined to be at fault for this crash. A warrant for Chernicky’s arrest was issued, and on Monday, July 13, 2026, officers from the San Jose CHP office arrested Chernicky.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
SUVs are “trucks”...
Based upon the photo of the damage to the red car I’m calling BS on 142 MPH.
It appears you can see him from the back in handcuffs lower right
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1463460385586094&id=100057664406722
I don’t have FakeBook but I still can view the picture
obviously
Crash scene from above:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1483098000526892&id=100064801178020
Yikes 😳
Headline broken.
“ Tesla DRIVEN 142 mph before crash that killed mom and toddler on California highway: DA”
There. I fixed it for you.
[I sent that msg to the typist/jowhorenalist who must’ve slept through fourth grade grammar and no, it wasn’t a self-driving TESLA]
“The victims’ Lexus was stopped in heavy traffic on Highway 87 near Curtner Avenue when Chernicky’s speeding Tesla plowed into the back of it.”
“CHP officers conducted a months-long investigation to determine which driver caused the wreck.”
Let’s see if I got this straight. Car A was stopped for heavy traffic. Car B approached from behind at a high rate of speed and failed to stop before striking car A. You mean to tell me it took these democrat gumshoes months to figure out who caused the wreck?
In the tradition of FreeRepublic not reading the article.
By the headline I’m assuming Nicolai Tesla is still alive? Awesome.
You believe this is an 102 MPH impact damage? I don't.
Don’t care.
See, that’s why we need cameras in cars.
Don’t care for spyware
it was decelerating so not suicide, RTFA
31-year-old and still stupid it’s only a matter of time before it happened.
Tesla drivers seem to drive very slow with the exception one I saw on the freeway the other day. He was driving like a bat out hell.
I have ridden in a Tesla a few times. The Uber driver was very slow and took an odd route to the destination. I would have taken a different way, but I didn’t complain.
If it re ended the red car at 102mph, then I as well call the report BS... there is no damage at all to the rear end of the red car...
scratch that... realize from the last pic what the story is... still, that still doesnt look like a 100mph impact...
Sure, but the headline would not have read, Subaru drove 142 mph.
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