‘It was the most terrifying thing I’ve seen’: Residents concerned about speeding in Spring neighborhood after driver plows into backyard

SPRING – It was a scary moment for residents in Spring when a car lost control, went airborne and landed in a neighbor’s yard.

The incident happened on Saturday morning off of Rayford Road near Siandra Creek Lane just before 11:00 am.

Lacy Phillips was sitting inside her home with her daughter when she heard a loud noise.

“I heard (it) and thought the roof was caving in. It was so loud,” said Phillips.

A car lost control and slammed into two trees in the median on Rayford Road, and then Phillips said the driver scaled her fence, rolling into her yard.

“I saw the car do a couple more rolls in the back, then I didn’t know what happened. Once I found out all my kids were okay and I saw my husband back here, I was better because I could get those ‘what if’ visions out of my head. We’re always outside and I just wanted to make sure my kids were not outside,” explained Phillips. “I was too scared to look. I just called 911.”

“It was the most terrifying thing I’ve seen,” said neighbor Toni Carstensen.

In one of the videos, you can see a car sitting at the stop sign.

Carstensen, who lives next door to Phillips, said she was inside of her vehicle when the driver of the other car flew through and barely missed her vehicle.

“I was actually about to go, but I had stopped to wave at my neighbor, and when looked over to check the clearing, I saw this car sideways, sliding and I thought, ‘Oh, she’s gonna hit something.’ She started rolling and she flipped her car once into the ditch and it bounced back out of the ditch a couple more times and slid,” said Carstensen.

Both families acknowledged that since this incident, things will be changing for their families.

“They’re not allowed to play outside anymore. They’re not allowed to just enjoy themselves because it’s a racetrack,” said Carstensen.

Both parents said the stretch of road they live on is used by people all the time to race and speed.

Phillips said this was not the first time someone has lost control and crashed near her home.

In October 2020, a Lamborghini crashed.

“We heard loud sounds. My neighbor went over and pulled a father and daughter out of the Lamborghini,” recalled Phillips. “He lost control and flipped five or six times and then the car caught fire.”

“We could all be talking about something different. We could have memorial signs out... I just can’t get that out of my head,” explained Carstensen. “We’re lucky, but we shouldn’t say we’re lucky, we should and we’re going to do something so we don’t have to rely on luck going forward. I think we all need to learn from this.”

Phillips said many people know the girl who was driving the car and she lives in their neighborhood.

When Lacy was talking to her on the day of the crash, she acknowledged she was speeding and acting recklessly. Phillips said her son also saw a social media post where the girl was allegedly bragging about the speed at which she was driving.

“I hope she sees the impact she’s having on her neighbors and her community and she chooses to learn from it,” said Carstensen.

Both women hope some stop signs are added to slow drivers down and prevent this from ever happening again.

KPRC 2 reached out to Commissioner James Noack’s office of Montgomery County Precinct 3 to see if the speeding issues were being addressed. Chief of Staff, Evan Besong responded with the following:

“At this time, the county is reviewing any additional safety modifications that may be implemented along this corridor. This stretch of roadway is well maintained, and the vehicular posted speed limit is adequate for the residential community. Our office is working with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, County Engineers Office and the Benders Landing Estates Board regarding all aspects of this irresponsible act.”


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