Though speeding cars keep crashing in their home, Indianapolis couple Tim and Leigh McCall wouldn't dream of moving out of their lovely home of 30 years, Yahoo Shine reported.
Over the past three decades, 11 cars have crashed into the McCall home, a two-story duplex that Tim, 51, and Leigh, 58, share with Leigh's mother. The latest crash occurred on Sunday afternoon while the McCalls were relaxing in their living room watching the Indianapolis Colts game.
Missing Leigh by about a foot, a Chevy Equinox suddenly came careening into their dining room.
According to Yahoo Shine, the 29-year-old driver, Katie Anderson Spears, sped over a set of railroad tracks located 150 feet from the McCall home, broke through the family's chain link fence, and drove into their dining room. Even though Spears body was thrown halfway through the car's windshield, she was not seriously injured.
With the insurance company footing their bill, the couple is staying at a nearby hotel until it's safe to return to their home. But the McCalls' have become used to this routine over the years.
According to a story published in the Indianapolis Star, on Christmas Day in 1991, a teenager crashed into the couple's home, was ejected from his pickup truck, and died from his injuries. Cars have also driven through the McCalls' backyard, landed on their porch, and struck the family's cars parked on the street.
"The problem is that the McCall house is located less than one block away from a set of raised railroad tracks," Rita Reith, public information officer for the Indianapolis Fire Department, told Yahoo Shine. "When people speed over the tracks, their cars go airborne, and when they try to control their vehicles, they veer right into the McCall home."
With the speed limit being no higher than 30 mph in the McCalls' residential area, the drivers still lose control of their cars because they're speeding or intoxicated, Reith said.
For years, the couple has requested that a stop sign be installed between their home and the railroad tracks, but the area doesn't have enough traffic to warrant one, Reith said.
Jeff Miller, an Indianapolis city councilman, told Yahoo Shine that the best solution would be to install the stop sign before the railroad tracks and he's surprised that one still hasn't been placed there.
"Drivers see the tracks and often speed up, when their impulse should be to slow down," Miller said.
Despite the proven risks that come with the house's location, the McCalls are adamant about not leaving their beloved home, where they also raised their son.
Leigh told the Indianapolis Star on Tuesday that she is "heartbroken" over the latest crash, which destroyed the staircase on which she and her husband had exchanged their wedding vows.
The couple's collection of 150 angel statues was also damaged in this crash, with just 20 remaining.
Leigh's father bought the house for the couple in 1979 for only $4,000, and over the years, the McCalls have made major improvements to it. "You can only imagine the blood, sweat, tears, and money that's gone into this house," Leigh said in the Indianapolis Star interview. "We've worked on the house every day for nine months before we even moved in."
For now, Miller is working with the Department of Public Works in order to find a solution.
"This problem can no longer continue," he said.
