Cars crashing into buildings

We have seen it on the news and all the damage left behind when drivers lose control and crash into homes and buildings. We started tracking the numbers in January and so far, we've logged over 80 incidents of cars hitting buildings in the Miami Valley this year.

In fact, we were there just after a car struck the home of Kelly Sharp in Franklin Township.

"I hear this boom and I think it's thunder," said Sharp. "I was just like, how can a car hit a house?"

This crash was number 87.

"This is the 87th time a car hit a house? Really? Wow! I didn't realize it was that bad," Sharp said.

Linda Strader of Harrison Township knows first hand what's it like to be a target. Her Keenan Drive home has been hit 9 times! A fence and a decorative rock are the only things stopping a vehicle from wrecking her house or killing someone inside.

"When you hear brakes squealing, you tense up and get away from the windows," said Strader. "I had a granddaughter who was asleep in that recliner right over there and if the fence and rock hadn't stopped it, she would have been killed."

We wanted to know if the Dayton area is unique in the number of these crashes so we turned to Cal Westray of Jamestown who's also been keeping track of cars hitting buildings in our area. He did some digging and discovered that Dayton has many more than some cities.

"The Buffalo area was keeping track of theirs and they've had 150 since 2006, " said Westray. "We've had more than that in less than 2 years."

We also found Rob Reiter, a storefront crash expert from California who tracks vehicles into commercial buildings nationwide. He said this happens everywhere.

"I'm pretty tight on that number of 20,000 per year in the United States," said Reiter.

If you include the number of vehicles hitting homes, Reiter said that number could be as high as 60,000. However, Ohio does not lead the nation in cars hitting buildings. That distinction goes to the state of Florida. Reiter said there are several reasons why this is happening so often.

"Pedal error or driver error and the percentage of people driving drunk or high has been steady the last couple of years," said Reiter.

Here at home, WHIO-TV will continue to track the number of cars hitting homes and businesses and it appears we will log at least 100 crashes by the end of the year.