Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Orange County

Car Takes Flight in Santa Ana, Crashes into Second Floor of Dentist Office

9:19 AM PST on January 18, 2018

At 5:30 a.m. Sunday, a motorist sped down a residential street in Santa Ana, hit a center median, vaulted through the air, and crashed into the second story of a dentist office.

The driver, who was under the influence, and the passenger received only minor injuries.

Luckily, no other injuries were reported, but this could have been much more severe. A motel surveillance video showed a car going east on Seventeenth Street passed in front of the speeder a second before it hit the center median. And mere seconds after the car crashed into the dentist office, an OCTA bus passed by.

The incident captured the attention of most major news outlets. Even Time Magazine's Instagram account showed the image in their feed.

What's equally surprising about this event is how far the car had to cross Seventeenth, and it still did not hit other traffic. Seventeenth Street is one of the wider streets in Santa Ana, with this stretch from curb to curb being more than 102 feet wide. So yeah, the car flew more than fifty feet to reach that office's second floor.

While not much can prevent flying cars from causing havoc, the city has been working on making Seventeenth Street safer. Seventeenth Street is the site of a proposed road buffet that reduces the general travel lanes to four and adds a protected bike lane. But it will still require people to drive with care and attention.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Funding for Rail Projects: An Incomplete Roundup

Various federal, state, and local funding sources are lining up.

December 8, 2023

Caltrans and Metro Using “Auxiliary Lane” Freeway Widening Loophole for Non-Aux Lane Projects

Beyond just using harmful loopholes legally, Metro and Caltrans deceptively bypass environmental regulations in order to keep on widening freeways

December 8, 2023

Seamless Bay Area Five Years Later

The founders of the Bay Area's advocacy group dedicated to fare integration and rational schedules talk about a half-decade of fighting for better transit and what's likely to happen in the next five years.

December 8, 2023

California Can’t Be a Climate Leader Until it Stops Building Freeways

Caltrans should be inducing demand for active transportation and transit with protected bikeways and bus-only lanes.

December 8, 2023

Friday’s Headlines

LA buses will have AI cameras to help enforce bus-only lanes; Who rides the LA subway? San Mateo transit officials want regional discussions to include them better; More

December 8, 2023
See all posts