News

Actions

Cars plow into buildings around Hampton Roads

Posted at 11:46 PM, Nov 04, 2013
and last updated 2013-11-05 06:30:10-05

Portsmouth, Va. - Cars keep crashing into buildings all across Hampton Roads. Two accidents occurred just today.

On Florida Avenue in Portsmouth, it took a lot of work to put bricks up.

In seconds on Monday they fell to the ground after a driver having a medical emergency crashed into the house. Then in Chesapeake, an SUV hit a dentist's office.

Drivers in Hampton Roads seem to have a tough time dodging the houses that line the streets. There are a lot of different reasons for it, including when a van hit a building while trying to get away from police in Virginia Beach this summer.

Sometimes, it's even on residential streets. A sailor had his living room basically moved outdoors when a woman crashed her car on his quiet Virginia Beach street. No one was hurt.

NewsChannel 3 went to police departments in the seven cities and other state agencies to see how often cars are plowing into buildings and if it's becoming more frequent.

None of them had an answer.

The department of motor vehicles doesn't take a tally nor does AAA.

We called all the police departments in the seven cities and not one of them had numbers on it. Newport News police say it's because it happens on private property, so in most cases there's not an incident report.

Police can ticket you for reckless driving as well as DUI if you crash into a building. But if you're distracted because you were texting, and that's what makes you crash into a building, there's little they can do.

But the consequences linger for many of the victims.

We first met Francis Benn last month when a car swerved off Grimes Road in Hampton, and right into her house. Weeks later, she's still not back home after the city deemed it unsafe for anyone to live in.