SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – A family has had enough after another incident in which a car slammed into their Point Loma home.
At around 3 a.m. Friday, Mckensey Cohen was asleep in her bedroom when a car crashed into a guardrail and struck her room.
The 16-year-old woke up in a panic as a strong gasoline odor filled the home, which is located in the 3100 block of Nimitz Boulevard, at Evergreen Street.
"It was probably one of the scariest moments of my entire life," Mckensey said. "My bed moved a little bit and I jumped out of bed, freaking out, and from there I was just hectic; I was moving around and getting all my stuff like, ‘We need to get out of here.’”
Mckensey and her mother told 10News the family is planning to move out of the home immediately. They have been renting the house for about a year, and Friday’s incident was the second time a car crashed in their driveway.
The teen said her family had no idea several vehicles had struck the home and a guardrail out front in the past, until a couple of months after they moved in.
"Neighbors from across the street and down there, they came and they were like, ‘Yeah, this house gets ran into a lot,’” Mckensey said.
Mckensey suffered a panic attack because of the crash and was taken to the hospital.
She said, “This is my room, this is my house, this is where I live, and I wasn't ready for that.”
Witnesses said a car driven by an 80-year-old woman went through the intersection and struck a guardrail. With the guardrail still stuck on the car, the vehicle then hit the house and at least two other cars in the driveway.
Debris was also launched through the window of a house next door.
Witnesses who helped the elderly driver out of the car told 10News she was alert and talking but appeared to be “out of it.”
The driver was evaluated at the scene and did not appear to be seriously injured.
"People continue to go fast, they don't care," said Mckensey. "They just go fast; they know that there's houses right here."
Mckensey’s grandmother, Georgia Martin, told 10News, “It’s not a safe intersection. They need to change the entire thing.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family as they recover from the incident.
10News reached out to city of San Diego officials to see if anything is being done to remedy the problem.
A city official said the request for information was relayed to the city's traffic engineering division and more details would be given at a later date.
The city sent 10News the following statement Friday:
The City of San Diego has been aware of the history of this particular intersection and has been responsive to the community’s safety concerns. In the recent history, the City has evaluated the area and updated the intersection to include guardrails, a flashing beacon with a “curve” warning sign and a dedicated bike lane. The approaching lanes have been reduced from to one lane from two lanes and the signal at the approaching intersection has been modified to flash red between midnight and 4 a.m. to direct vehicles to slow down.
