Local News

Second Person Drives Off the Edge of Downtown Austin Parking Garage

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Early Thursday morning, an Austin driver mistook the gas pedal for the brake. KXAN reports that their car flew past the small barrier and fell from the seventh floor of the Littlefield parking garage into the alleyway near Brazos and Sixth Street.

William Burch was incredibly fortunate to drive forward as soon as he heard a loud noise from above. Immediately, the car fell onto his SUV, but only clipped the back instead of landing directly on top of him as it would have if he didn’t quickly hit the gas. Sadly, the driver of the vehicle, a woman in her 30s, has suffered serious injuries.

If the story sounds oddly familiar, it’s because a similar incident took place last year. KVUE reported that a 24-year-old man accidentally drove past the barrier on the ninth floor of the same garage, and his car hung by a metal rope while he was miraculously able to escape before plummeting.

The garage’s owner says the structure was erected in 1979, and these are the only two incidents of cars driving over the edge. They were given a violation in September of last year due to the unsafe barriers, but the City of Austin gave the OK to the repairs that were made.