A two-vehicle crash near a home in the 1300 block of Northwest Third Avenue sent one car careening into the house Sunday, leaving a hole in its side and sending one person to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Fort Lauderdale police said the vehicle was struck by another car, left the roadway and slammed into a tree near the property before damaging the home.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, police confirmed there was a two-vehicle crash and that one of the cars left the road after being hit and struck a tree close to the house. Video from the scene showed tire tracks cut across the sidewalk alongside the damage to the home's exterior. One car was left with a crushed front end and visible passenger-side damage, while the second vehicle suffered severe front-end damage of its own.
A separate account from WSVN placed the crash near Northwest 13th Street and Third Avenue, slightly different from the 1300 block location cited elsewhere, and reported that both cars were damaged with debris scattered across the road. That station also reported that Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue took one person with non-life-threatening injuries to Broward Health Medical Center.
A Repeat Headache for the Property Owner
For property owner Joe Fuentes, Sunday's wreck was not a one-off. He told the outlet this marked the second time he has had to repair the house because of a crash, and said his priority now is making sure “the structure is safe for my tenants.”
Fuentes did not stop at repairs. He also called for more enforcement of the speed limit on the street, echoing frustration that has built up around the property over time.
Neighbor Says Speeding Has Become a Pattern
Breanna Vanderplow, who lives in the home directly in front of the crash site and has been there for five years, said this is not an isolated incident either. She said crashes have happened across the street twice since she moved in, and described speeding on the street as a growing concern. Vanderplow called the latest crash scary and a personal reality check.
Police had not disclosed what caused Sunday's crash as of the report. The City of Fort Lauderdale notes that traffic enforcement falls to its police department's Traffic Enforcement Unit, and that enforcement requests are completed based on current staffing and workload.
Fort Lauderdale's Broader Crash Risk
The neighborhood complaints echo wider data on South Florida roads. A Life360 report cited by NBC 6 found that five of the top eight most crash-prone metro areas in the country are in Florida, and that Fort Lauderdale ranks second nationwide for rapid acceleration, a factor the report links to increased crash risk. The same report found that 86% of drivers admit they have been distracted by technology while driving, and 27% have changed clothes or applied makeup behind the wheel.
For now, Fuentes is focused on patching up the house once again, while Vanderplow and other neighbors continue pressing for a response to what they see as a persistent speeding problem on their block.
