A Bristol business has spoken out about hearing an "almighty crash" after a Tesla smashed through a shop window on Monday afternoon (April 4). The vehicle went straight through the shop windows of luxury furniture shop Arlo & Jacob on Whiteladies Road, Clifton at around 4.30pm.
Many of the surrounding businesses had either finished up for the day at the time of the incident or are closed on Mondays. Organic food store Better Food, which is to the left of the furniture store as you face it, was still open at the time of the crash.
Jon Sherring, store manager for the site, was working in the Whiteladies branch of the food store late afternoon on Monday. Speaking to BristolLive, he likened the sound of the crash to a "big bin full of glass bottles being emptied", adding it was "certainly a bit of a shock" to both the staff and the customers.
As it happened: Tesla goes 'flying into window' of shop on Whiteladies Road - live updates
Mr Sherring said: "The shopfront really shook and it sounded like a big bin full of glass bottles being emptied out onto the street. It was a real almighty crash. Nobody in the shop saw it happen, but the shock of it really, and [we are] just trying to understand why it happened."
The elderly woman who was driving the Tesla at the time does not remember a thing about the incident.
He continued: "There was a melee out on the street, but I think the emergency services arrived quite quickly and seemed to have it under control, so we just carried on what we were doing. Certainly a bit of a shock."
Jon said although the store was not affected by the force of the crash, he said the business "probably lost a bit in sales because of the cordon", adding that it was not an issue. Police imposed a cordon around the scene while the southbound carriageway of Whiteladies Road was closed to allow emergency services to attend the scene.
The driver managed to avoid any injuries. A younger woman was taken to hospital as a precaution following the incident but her injuries were not deemed to be serious.
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