11 Cars Have Crashed into Their House, but This Couple Won't Move

Photo: Indianapolis Fire Department


Indianapolis couple Tim and Leigh McCall love their home of 30 years and wouldn't dream of moving. The problem: Speeding cars keep crashing into their house.

Over the past three decades, 11 cars have crashed into the McCall home, a two-story duplex that Tim, 51, and Leigh, 58, share with Leigh's mother. The latest crash occurred on Sunday afternoon while the McCall's were relaxing in their living room watching the Indianapolis Colts game. Suddenly, a Chevy Equinox came careening into their dining room, missing Leigh by about a foot. The 29-year-old driver, Katie Anderson Spears, had sped over a set of railroad tracks located 150 feet from the McCall home, drove through the family's chain link fence, and into their dining room. The crash ejected Spears's body halfway through the car's windshield, but was not seriously injured.

For now, the couple is staying at a nearby hotel (their insurance company is footing the bill) until it's safe to return to their home. It's a routine the McCall's have become accustomed to over the years - according to a story published in the local newspaper, The Indianapolis Star, on Christmas Day in 1991, a teenager crashed into the couple's home, was ejected from his pickup truck, and died from his injuries. Cars have also driven through the McCalls' backyard, onto their porch, and struck the family's cars parked on the street.

"The problem is that the McCall house is located less than one block away from a set of raised railroad tracks," Rita Reith, public information officer for the Indianapolis Fire Department, tells Yahoo Shine. "When people speed over the tracks, their cars go airborne, and when they try to control their vehicles, they veer right into the McCall home."

The McCalls reside in a residential area where the speed limit is no higher than 30 miles per hour, says Reith, yet drivers lose control of their cars because they're either speeding or intoxicated. For years, the couple has requested that a stop sign be installed between their home and the railroad tracks, however, according to Reith, the area is doesn't generate enough traffic to warrant one.

Jeff Miller, an Indianapolis city councilman, tells Yahoo Shine that the best solution would be to install the stop sign before the railroad tracks and he's surprised that one still hasn't been placed there. "Drivers see the tracks and often speed up, when their impulse should be to slow down," Miller explains.

Despite the proven risks that come with the house's location, the McCalls are adamant about not leaving their beloved home. Yahoo Shine could not reach the couple for comment, however, Leigh told the Indianapolis Star on Tuesday that she is "heartbroken" over the latest crash, which destroyed the staircase on which she and her husband had exchanged their wedding vows. The couple's collection of 150 angel statues was also destroyed in this crash. Just 20 remain.

Leigh's father bought the home for the couple in 1979 for only $4,000 and over the years, the McCall's have made major improvements to the house, where they also raised their son. "You can only imagine the blood, sweat, tears, and money that's gone into this house," Leigh said in the Indianapolis Star interview. "We've worked on the house everyday for nine months before we even moved in."

For now, Miller is trying to work with the Department of Public Works, in order to find a solution. "This problem can no longer continue," he says.
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