A car crashed into a business in a Huntington Beach strip mall on Wednesday, with part of the vehicle ending up inside the store and sending patients to the hospital. The crash was reported in the 6000 block of Edinger Avenue, prompting a response from firefighters and building department personnel who had to assess the crash scene.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the crash caused reported injuries, and patients were transported to a hospital, though details about the extent of their injuries were not immediately available. The outlet reported that the store sits inside a strip mall, and photos from the scene, taken Wednesday, showed part of the car had come to rest inside the building itself. NBC Los Angeles reporter Jonathan Lloyd covered the incident as it unfolded.
A Familiar Stretch of Road
The 6000 block of Edinger Avenue sits near Springdale Street, across from Marina High School, in a commercial retail strip that includes a 7-Eleven shopping center and several other storefront spaces, according to the Los Angeles Times. It is not the first time this corridor has drawn scrutiny over traffic safety. A study covering Huntington Beach collisions from 2010 through 2018 flagged the nearby intersection of Edinger Avenue and Springdale Street as one of the city's highest-risk intersections, recording 19 injury collisions and one fatality during that span, per research from Aitken Aitken & Cohen.
Edinger Avenue has seen other serious crashes in recent years. In October 2023, a 54-year-old driver crashed a pickup truck into the front of a Kohl's department store at 7777 Edinger Avenue, injuring three people and leading to attempted murder and DUI charges, as reported by FOX 11 Los Angeles. Last August, a three-vehicle collision on Edinger Avenue near Beach Boulevard killed a 15-year-old passenger and injured several others after an impaired driver crossed the center divider, according to a Huntington Beach Police Department statement reported by Vertex.
Storefront Crashes Are a Nationwide Problem
Wednesday's crash fits into a much larger pattern documented across the country. Vehicle-into-building crashes occur more than 100 times per day nationwide, resulting in roughly 16,000 injuries and 2,600 fatalities annually, according to data compiled by the Storefront Safety Council. Operator or pedal error accounts for about 41% of these crashes, while driving under the influence makes up 15%, ordinary traffic collisions 12%, and sudden medical emergencies 9%, the group's research shows. Drivers over 60 are involved in nearly 40% of all such storefront collisions nationwide, per the same research.
California lawmakers have already tried to address the risk. Assembly Bill 2161, enacted in 2016, added Insurance Code Section 11895, which lets commercial property insurers offer discounts to building owners who install approved vehicle barriers or bollards, according to California Legislative Information. The California Fire Code also sets specific engineering standards, requiring concrete-filled Schedule 80 steel pipe bollards at least 3 inches in diameter to shield vulnerable equipment accessible to vehicles.
City Crews Respond to Assess Damage
As they did following a July 2025 crash on Newland Street, where an unlicensed teen driver struck two homes and prompted inspectors to secure damaged homes, Huntington Beach's building department personnel again worked alongside firefighters at the Edinger Avenue scene Wednesday to check the structure. It remains unclear whether the driver suffered a medical emergency, was impaired, or lost control for another reason. The condition of the patients taken to the hospital and whether the business will be able to reopen have not yet been confirmed.
