Driver killed, passenger seriously hurt after being ejected from Tesla on FDR Drive​on February 4, 2025 at 3:59 pm

UPPER EAST SIDE (WABC) — One person is dead and another is seriously hurt after a fiery crash on the FDR Drive.

Police say the driver of a Tesla was killed after being ejected from the vehicle.

They say the car struck a guardrail, overturned and burst into flames in the northbound lanes near the 71st Street exit around 3 a.m.

The 26-year-old passenger was also ejected from the vehicle but survived the impact. They were rushed to the burn unit at New York Presbyterian Hospital – Cornell

Meanwhile, the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

All northbound FDR Drive lanes are closed at 63rd Street, and southbound traffic is being diverted at 96th Street.

Heather O’Rourke has the latest on traffic on the Upper East Side.

Firefighters have extinguished the lithium ion e-battery fire in the Tesla but there are concerns that it could reignite.

Witnesses told police the Tesla was speeding at the time it overturned.

“He was going at least 120, 130 (mph). At least. And then when he hit the other car, the damage was just so much that it split in half. And that just started going on fire,” a witness told Eyewitness News.

ALSO READ: 67 dead after midair collision between passenger jet and military helicopter; Black boxes recovered

Josh Einiger reports from Washington, DC.

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