Car Crashes Through Maryland House for the Fifth Time

“Damn, another car hit my house” isn’t something you hear said every day. For Leonard Miller of Lanham Maryland, however, it’s the fourth time he’s able to make that statement. What a terrible streak of luck.

Miller’s home is located on bend that drivers just can’t seem to get right. The posted speed limit is 30 mph, but because the curve is located at the bottom of a hill, drivers often come into it carrying too much speed. The result is a collision with Miller’s house, this is the fifth time it’s happened.

An Unfortunate Turn of Events

Leonard Miller is 88, and has lived at this location for 45 years. Every time another car comes through his walls he’s left with a mess to clean up, but it’s becoming unreasonable for an elderly person to deal with the aftermath of careless driving. In this specific incident, the car damaged a wall of the house, removing bricks and multiple windows.

Miller could send a formal request through the 311 system, or using email, to have officials review the way the road is built, but it’s questionable how quickly a reroute could be implemented.

Not the Only Victim of Runaway Drivers

Surprisingly, Miller’s situation isn’t that unique. Perhaps it says something about how we drive, or where we choose to build roads, but stories of US residents being repeatedly exposed to runaway cars is a fairly common one.

For example, one man in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania owns a car repair shop where cars routinely fly off the freeway and into his lot because of the abrupt off-ramp close by. Another man in Raleigh has even outdone Mr. Miller, citing six instances of cars colliding with his home. Maybe consider a move?

Your Tax Dollars at Work

It seems that if the unfortunate reality is that your home or business is in a crossfire for crazy driving, you’ve got two choices. The first is to take action to add signage and possibly redirect the road. Signage, as we’ve seen in Penn. doesn’t always do the trick, and reroutes take a long time.

The second is simply to cut and run. This might be an option for some, but you can’t help but feel sorry for Leonard Miller, who’s spent half his life in this location and shouldn’t be forced to make such a decision now.