SUV Slams Into Busy Miami Bus Bench Injuring Elderly Woman

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A very close call for three women caught on video after an SUV crashed into a Miami bus bench.  It is the second time in that very spot in the last four months.

A few seconds and a few feet can make all the difference between life and death Thursday, as seen in the surveillance video from cameras at 4150 NW on 7th Street near Lejeune Road.

First, a woman got on a bus just 20 seconds before a red SUV slammed right into the bench she was sitting on.

The SUV then also missed a woman walking just feet to its right and a woman in a wheelchair, to its left.

"I said, 'help! help! help!" explained Mayra Gonzalez, who was thrown from her wheelchair. "I'm very nervous. Shaking."

The 65-year old Gonzalez was waiting for her caretaker outside the Miami Heart Center building suddenly an SUV barreled toward her.

"I said this is it," said a visibly shaken Gonzalez. "This is the end 'cause it came right towards me. I was just thankful I was alive."

The flying bus bench threw Gonzalez from her wheelchair – bruising and cutting her.

But others suffered much more serious injuries when the same thing happened at this very spot just four months ago.

Another SUV slammed into the bench and the building so hard and fast on Nov. 4th.

The SUV driver flew out violently. That impact was also caught on the building's cameras.

"This is nerve-wracking," Jacqueline Cueto told CBS4 Reporter Donna Rapado.

Cueto works at the Heart Center and was there during the last crash.

"We're working and next thing you know it's screaming and windows smashing and it's crazy," she said.

Concrete pillars lined the building along the sidewalk, meant to help lessen the damage to life and property. But Cueto said after repeated crashes the city needed to step up.

"They need to move that bus stop from there.  This corner, too many accidents have happened and at the same time they need to allow us to install some type of barrier that protects the building and the people inside the building as well," she said.

Miami police were looking into why the driver of the SUV lost control before deciding if they would cite her.