Two-car crash sends Honda into building, investigation ongoing

A driver who said a Tesla struck her Honda was taken to the hospital last week after she crashed through a newly renovated storefront in North Berkeley.

Witnesses said the building was vacant but carpenters were working inside. They were not injured in the crash.

Writing in a public post on NextDoor, the Honda driver said an EMT who had been out for a walk kept her company until first responders arrived.

She wrote that the Tesla driver had caused the crash after he "swerved around a person at the stop sign and hit me since he didn’t feel like waiting. Some of my best friends drive Tesla but some are not particularly good at sharing the road."

The official details of the crash, which took place March 13 at about 2:30 p.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Virginia Street, remain under investigation, Berkeley police have said in response to multiple Scanner inquiries.

BPD stopped north- and southbound traffic on MLK during the initial response.

Authorities also planned to red-tag the building, meaning it was unsafe to occupy, police said over the radio last week. (Its current status was unavailable as of publication time.)

Read more about traffic safety in Berkeley.

In addition to wood to board up the building, police also called for "heavy-duty" material to shore up the second story to ensure the structure didn't collapse.

Police also asked for "expedited tow trucks" to help remove the Honda from the scene and said it would likely take two tow trucks to get the job done.

The crash also took out a bike rack at MLK on the north side of Virginia Street, police said over the radio.

Bike advocates writing about the collision on Bluesky noted that the intersection is a bike boulevard as well as a staffed school crossing.

One local cyclist described the intersection of Virginia at MLK as "among the sketchiest" single-lane bike boulevard crossings in Berkeley.

"That area is usually fairly busy with pedestrians and whatnot," another local resident wrote. "Lucky no one was killed."

Writing on NextDoor, the Honda driver said she had seen people on BlueSky blaming her for the collision.

"Never been in an accident before and hope never again," she wrote, adding, "The SOS [emergency alert] app on my phone alerted my family about the accident and the hospital location."

"Other than cuts and bruises I am ok and most grateful to those on MLK near Cedar who took time to respond," she wrote. "I don’t know you but I love you."

Some of the NextDoor commenters asked why the driver had included car company names in her description, prompting other residents to explain the relevance.

"Teslas are particularly dangerous because they have acceleration capabilities closer to high performance sports cars, and they are becoming ubiquitous," wrote one of them.

"The danger of Teslas is increased by their weight," another added, noting that Teslas can weigh more than 5,000 pounds while Hondas like the one from the MLK collision can be closer to 3,300.

Photographs of the Honda showed clear damage to its driver's side, indicating that it may have been broadsided.

Local resident Aaron Gobler observed that the storefront, at 1650 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, "had just been renovated … and was back on the market for lease."

Marketing materials emphasize the building's "excellent window frontage on MLK."

In recent years, the property has housed more than one personal training studio, but they didn't last.

Before that and for many decades, it was the home of storied Berkeley bike shop Velo Sport Cyclery, which moved down to University Avenue in 2006, Yelpers reported at the time. (That location eventually closed.)

As of this week, police said they could not share much detail about the crash, noting that the Honda driver was taken to the hospital and that the Tesla driver, whose vehicle was described only as "involved," was not hurt.

Police initially said a white SUV had collided with a car, "sending it into the vacant building."

No details such as the directions of travel or primary collision factor were provided this week.

"The cause of the collision is still under investigation, and the official report has not been completed," BPD said. "Additional details are expected to be released once the investigation concludes."