Shocking video shows tree smashing car in Kennett Square

(WPHL)– Surveillance video captured the moment that a massive tree fell onto a car in Chester County as the woman involved avoided what could’ve been a near-death experience.

It happened Monday just after 7:45 a.m. when an enormous tree came crumbling down into the middle of an SUV on Lenape Road in Kennett Square.

Surveillance video from the KARCO gas station near the intersection of Route 926 and Route 52 shows several cars lining up at the light.

Seconds later, the collapse happens as the massive tree falls onto the white SUV, breaking into pieces in the parking lot.

Video shows the impact of the tree shaking the car as the woman opens her door and quickly runs from the vehicle, shocked, but seemingly uninjured, as she rushes to the other drivers with her hands on her head.

One man said he was working on the roof of the gas station across the street as he watched and heard it all happen.

“I heard cracking and then I looked over and I saw it starting to fall, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God,'” said John De Bow. “It was inches away from her death. She could’ve died easily,”

Connor McGivney, an arborist in Glen Mills, says it’s easy to see that the tree had been dead for several years.

He says the incident should be a wake-up call for residents to check the trees in their yard.

“Whoever owns that property should’ve known about this. This shouldn’t have been some unforeseen event. I’m sure that people have driven past that very tree for years and been like, ‘That thing’s gonna be a problem someday.'”

Since the incident, many residents have taken to social media to express their concerns.

One woman wrote on Facebook, “Twice…I reported this dead tree to PennDot. It looked like it would fall on the road someday in the future.”

The woman said PennDOT claimed the tree was on the owner’s property and they were not responsible for removing it.

Another person posted, “PennDOT needs to do better.”

It’s still unclear who exactly owns the land that the tree was sitting on before the collapse.