A San Jose resident says vehicles have crashed into his property 23 times in the past few decades.
“Every few years we’ll get a car that either rips through my fence or goes through my house,” Ray Minter said.
Crashes at Minter’s home on Jackson Avenue date back to 1964. He said most of the crashes involved cars speeding from nearby Interstate 680.
In one instance, a car went airborne and crashed into Minter’s garage, where his father had been sitting just minutes before. Despite close calls over the years, no one in the home was hurt, Minter said.
But the damage was piling up.
“I lost three cars,” Minter said.
In addition to replacing the cars, Minter had to replace his front yard, mailbox and fence.
In 2016, Minter woke up to find a truck had plowed into his parked car and pushed it into his house.
“I heard a rumble and the house started shaking,” Minter said. “At first I thought it was an earthquake. I tried to get in the front and I saw the bumper of the truck and everything else there. The whole front of the house was cracked, so I couldn’t get out.”
Minter said he contacted the city and state and asked them to install more barriers. The city said it has applied for millions in grants to improve safety.
“One is a landscape median in the middle of the street, which tends to slow down traffic, make it calmer, prevent dangerous left turns onto and off the street,” said Colin Heine of the city’s transportation department. “The other is an elevated separated bike lane.”
These projects can take 10 years to complete.
NBC Bay Area also reached out to Caltrans to ask if there were any plans to help, but did not immediately hear back.
For now, Minter hopes the reinforced poles and fence in front of his home will keep his cars and family safe.