Google Street View Captures Unfortunate Bicycle Accident

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Two people are picking up their bicycles after falling into a pothole on a city street. One wears a white shirt and backpack; the other wears a hat and gray shirt. A gated building and graffiti-covered wall are visible in the background.

Google Street View can capture the weird and wonderful, and this week a bicycle accident from 2018 has been going viral on the internet.

The unfortunate incident happened in the city of Leon in Mexico. As the Google Street View Car, which captures 360-degree images every few yards, was passing through quiet streets on the outskirts of Leon, two cyclists were both distracted by the car.

A street corner in León, Guanajuato, with a building featuring orange graffiti, two people riding bicycles, and overcast skies. Nearby buildings and greenery are visible along the sidewalk.

The two riders were approaching an intersection from different directions at around the same time as the Google Street View car. Incredibly, Google captured the exact moment the pair collided and one rider was sent tumbling to the ground.

Two people help a man in a wheelchair who appears to have tipped over on a quiet street. Nearby, there are houses, graffiti on a wall, and a few pedestrians walking in the distance. Street name "Valle de San Javier" is visible.

Fortunately, it appeared to be a low-speed impact, and the next available frame shows both cyclists standing and talking to each other. A large pothole at the intersection didn’t help things.

Two people stand with bicycles in the middle of a street intersection in an urban neighborhood. A man pushes a cart in the background, while another person walks further down the street. Houses and a fence line the road.

The incident can still be viewed on Google Street View by typing in the address, Campestre de Jerez, 37538 Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, and going to the Street View feature. Once there, the date must be changed to 2018 by pressing ‘See more dates.’

The actual frame of the crash now appears to be missing. Perhaps all of the online attention prompted Google to remove the actual moment of the accident. PetaPixel has contacted Google for comment.

Nevertheless, the Street View image of the crash appears genuine when cross-checking it with the other frames taken at the same time. It’s also been online since at least 2022.

A street corner in a residential neighborhood with two-story houses, some under construction. Several people stand on the sidewalk near the intersection labeled "Valle de Santiago." The sky is overcast.

Google Street View, sometimes dubbed the world’s photographer, is really a remarkable feature. Starting back in 2007, it already serves as a historical time capsule, allowing users to look at the world from the late 2000s.

Artist John Rafman has been carefully selecting photos from Street View since 2008, looking for strange, fleeting moments that the Google car was perfectly placed to capture.

But there are darker captures too, like the case of Alzheimer’s sufferer Paulette Landrieux, who wandered off from her home in Belgium. The police gave up searching for her until a neighbor stumbled across a Street View image of her walking away from her home.

Perhaps most chilling is a photo of a murder victim being loaded into the trunk of a car in Spain. The image was used by police as a clue to help solve the case.

Image credits: Google Street View.

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