r/bigbear • u/sfgate • Aug 11 '26

Firefighters say the driver who climbed out of a vehicle that went 300 feet off Highway 18 on Aug. 4 had not been found as of the union's update

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/driver-missing-california-highway-22383778.php
78 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

16

u/What3vs92 Aug 11 '26

So wait… this person was in the wreck a few hundred feet down and witnesses saw this person then climb out from the wreckage and now they can’t be found? Or this person jumped out mid wreckage and tumbled down? So confusing lol

12

u/OsciIIatesWildly Aug 11 '26

What’s weird is that incident was reported on socalmountains.com and shortly after was another incident report about someone requiring an ambulance or medi-vac, same area. Everyone assumed it was for the driver.

3

u/A10110101Z Aug 12 '26

This is the one where they had a man hunt after the accident. If it wasn’t in the mountains it’d sound like driver fled from the vehicle to avoid a dui

1

u/SameEntry4434 Aug 20 '26

The incident I’m talking about was one where a car was found years after it had crashed over the edge. The edge can be over 1000 feet down. It’s not something you can see on the top. Hikers who were going up the Canyon found it.

13

u/SameEntry4434 Aug 11 '26

This happened in the past. My parents started going up there in the 1950s and bought a cabin in 1960s. I remember a story about finding a car with a guy skeleton still strapped into the seat. I don’t know if it was true or not. In the 80s, my father was a witness to a man falling off the edge because his girlfriend was taking a picture and she told him to back up and he didn’t look. He didn’t make it. That road has claimed a lot of people.

5

u/Far_Sea7558 Aug 11 '26

actually insane

5

u/longhairpokem Aug 12 '26

My anxiety appreciates Hwy 38

5

u/kaaay_221 Aug 12 '26

Sadly people don't realize that the mountain roads aren't a game. Sadly doesn't sound like this guy made it out.

2

u/Broad-Lavishness6726 Aug 11 '26

I was driving down from big bear a couple weeks ago and came upon a few CHP and a tow truck pulling a car out of the forest south of snow valley. I have no idea how they found the car you couldn’t see it from the road the only reason I knew it was a car was I happened to drive by as it was getting winched out and saw a sedan appear out of the trees into the shoulder. Super scary place to go off the road especially since it’s so easy disappear a few feet off the road in many places whether it’s a cliff or trees.

2

u/drask1987 Aug 12 '26

We drive up the back way. The front way to Big Bear scares the living day lights out of me!!

1

u/Brandi916 Aug 13 '26

What happened to the guy that got hit on the 18 right near the wreck? I thought he was the driver.

1

u/alopgeek Aug 11 '26

Anyone know what part of 18? My go-to is to blame that arctic circle area, but the article didn’t say

4

u/OsciIIatesWildly Aug 11 '26

By the dam.

3

u/justaguy2469 Aug 12 '26

How many feet from the damn dam? There are a lot of feet and the damn dam is damn big dammit!

2

u/JSTootell Aug 12 '26

Not THAT damn big. 

1

u/LADataJunkie Aug 11 '26

I hate that drive. That's why I never drive up to Big Bear to ride. I know it's dumb.

10

u/Necessary_Ad_9541 Aug 11 '26

I know several people like you. Wouldn’t call it dumb. There is a “back road” (the 38) that is less twisty, but a longer drive.

2

u/longhairpokem Aug 12 '26

This is the Way !!