Driver suffers medical emergency, flips car into driveway with homeowner feet away
KDVR Fox 31
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (KDVR) — Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputies said a damaging crash was caused by the driver experiencing a medical emergency behind the wheel and crashing into a neighbor's driveway.
It happened in Highlands Ranch just west of Quebec Street. Two days after the incredible crash, Julie Gall and her neighbors are still letting it all sink in.
“I don’t think it hit me yet," said Gall.
She was about 10 feet away from the car when it came crashing down near her townhome in the Settlers Village neighborhood.
“I don’t even know how to explain it," said Gall. "It didn’t sound like a crash. It was just an explosion. I looked up and I saw parts and then this car came flying down right here and flipped and turned. I mean the car was smashed. “
She says the car took out three trees before hitting a brick pillar and crashed into a fence. It flipped the car on its side.
“There's debris on the roofs. Debris is everywhere," said Gall.
She managed to call 911, but not before counting her blessings.
“The first thing I think of is how lucky I was not to be hit by any of the debris. How lucky I was to not be where the car landed," said Gall. "I probably could have been killed had I been walking towards my car on the other side.“
Sadly, Gall said it's not the first time this happened.
“This is the third car. I know of another car that went over the edge further down," she said. "What has me concerned is they spent the last year doing construction on University and widening the road. So, now the road is even closer to our units so it does make me nervous that maybe the construction and now that it's closer that we are further in danger now.”
She hopes something can be done to avoid seeing a wild scene like this again.
“I would love to see them put the concrete or crash barriers you see on the freeway up on the road here. Especially behind the curves because the fencing isn’t going to do it," said Gall.
A spokesperson with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said the driver in this situation is doing OK. Since she suffered a medical emergency causing the crash, charges will not be filed in this case.