Falling Concrete Smashes Car's Hood In Streeterville
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A big chunk of concrete smashed into the hood of a Chicago area family's car as they were driving in Streeterville this week.
CBS 2's Chris Martinez reports Bill Cantrell was driving with his wife and 3-year-old son when a brick-sized chunk of concrete fell from the Lake Shore Drive overpass at Grand Avenue, and hit the hood.
"I can't even believe something like this happens. I can't win the Lottery, but this happens to me," Cantrell said. "It was not a good day."
Cantrell said the accident was traumatic for him and his family.
William Jackson witnessed the accident and emailed photos of the damage to CBS 2.
The falling concrete left a huge dent in the front right corner of Cantrell's Ford sedan.
"This was the brunt of the damage. Obviously it was in the front of the car," Cantrell said as he showed off the damage to his car on Wednesday.
He said he never saw the concrete chunk coming, but he did hear it.
"It sounded like – I hate to use the phrase a bomb – but it sounded like a bomb going off in the car," he said.
Seconds later, he saw the source.
"It was literally a ton of bricks hitting our car," Cantrell said.
The brick-sized chunk of concrete and other smaller chunks had fallen from the Lake Shore Drive Bridge over Grand Avenue, the largest of them measuring 8 ½ inches long.
"It crushed the hood. I mean, it absolutely crushed the hood. If that would have came through the windshield, God knows what would have happened at that point," Cantrell said.
The same thought passed through Jackson's mind as he saw the concrete slam into Cantrell's car.
"It was, bam! And not just one piece. There were, I don't know, seven, eight, nine, ten pieces," he said.
After watching Cantrell's car get hit, Jackson was terrified it might happen again.
"This needs to be examined before something else worse happens," he said.
CBS 2 reached out to city officials about the accident, but they had no comment as of Wednesday afternoon.
