Driver wipes out fire hydrant, light pole and tree in Broadway crash

An elderly man lost control of his Toyota Camry Monday afternoon in downtown Columbus and crashed the vehicle into a fire hydrant and light pole in the Broadway median.

The accident happened near the intersection of Broadway and 11th Street about 3:40 p.m. It turned part of the northbound lane of Broadway into a small river as war spewed from the busted fire hydrant.

No one appeared to be injured and the Columbus Police Motor Squad was on the scene.

Shanae Pippins and her twin sister, Sharae, were in the northbound lane of Broadway when the Camry, which was backing out of a parking space, suddenly accelerated toward their vehicle. Sharae was driving and Shanae was in the passenger seat.

“There was a car to the right side of us and it started to come out, so she honked her horn to tell him not to come out,” Shanae said. “He just hit the gas, then hit us and then hit the trees and the water came flying out. It was unreal.”

There was an older man and women in the Camry, which went across a median sidewalk.

It is the second time in two days that a car has gone off the street on Broadway. Sunday afternoon about 3:30 p.m. a dark-colored sedan jumped the sidewalk a block to the north at 12th Street and hit two pedestrians before leaving the sidewalk at 13th Street and taking a left toward Alabama. There have been no arrests in that incident.

This story was originally published December 18, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Driver wipes out fire hydrant, light pole and tree in Broadway crash."