Plantation installs new guardrail to protect home hit three times by cars

CBS News Live

FORT LAUDERDALE - The city of Plantation has stepped up to help a family whose home was struck three times[2] by cars. On Friday, they performed a ribbon cutting on a new guardrail built to protect the home on the west side of Nob Hill Road, south of Cleary Boulevard near Central Park Elementary. The city approved £98,000 to install the guardrail and said thanks to efficiencies by the contractor and the public works department, it only cost £59,000.

Homeowner Jonathan Phillips is hoping it will work. The first crash happened in 2015 when police say a driver hopped the median on North Nob Hill Road, launching their SUV into the air. Phillips said it plowed through his backyard, took out a hot tub, and hit the side of his home.

It then continued into a neighbor's yard where it took out another hot tub. Phillips said he and his family were sitting at the dinner table when it happened. He said if it had veered toward that section of the home, it would have gone into where they were seated.

Instead, the vehicle took out a wall and a bathroom. If it had happened just sixty seconds sooner, Phillips said his grandmother could have died because she had been in the room. The second crash happened at 4 a.m. in 2017.

Another median hop. Phillips said it came from the same side of the road and plowed into the side of the house. After the crash, Phillips reached out to Plantation city officials several times asking them to make changes.

Eventually, he said, the city put up a guardrail. He said it's prevented people from crossing lanes but didn't solve the problem. In April 2021, another crash.

He said it came from the southbound lane and took out a tree before hitting his home. The new guard rail will now act as a buffer between the road and Phillips' home.

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References

1. ^ CBS News Miami Live (www.cbsnews.com)
2. ^ struck three times (www.cbsnews.com)
3. ^ CBS Miami Team (www.cbsnews.com)