'All I saw was green!' - York woman's lucky escape after tree hits car

A tree has fallen on a car in Haxby Road (Image: Provided)

A YORK woman has spoken about her shock after a large tree branch fell on her car while she was driving down a main road.

Emilie North, who is 21 and from Haxby, told The Press about her lucky escape after her car, a red Fiat 500, was struck by a falling tree branch whilst she was driving down Haxby Road alone on Thursday night (August 13).

She said that she believes the branch fell after it was hit by a passing lorry, which she watched smack into an over-hanging tree on other side of the road from her car.

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Emilie said: “I saw a lorry driving the opposite way to me and it was hitting the branches that was hanging over the road. You see this with buses all the time.

“Once it had passed, I was driving up the road slowly and then all of a sudden, I heard a massive crack and bang – ultimately, it ended up on my car! All I saw was green!”

After stopping the car, Emilie was able to get out - adding that she had not been hurt in the incident.

She said: “My windows were open, so the ends of the tree ended up inside the car, but I am luckily ok and walked away without a scratch. I think, if the car hadn’t been moving at the time, then it probably would have smashed through and caused more damage.

Emilie North

(Image: Provided)

“I was in a lot of shock but I am glad to have made it out safely as I think things could have been a lot worse.”

At the scene, Emilie added that the response at the scene had been amazing, with several people stopping to check that was okay, workers coming with a chainsaw to chop up the tree quickly, and police arriving within 10 minutes.

Remarkably, her car was in a fit state to be driven – only receiving dents to the roof and scratches in the accident, something which she believes should be paid for by City of York Council who are responsible for maintaining the trees in Clarence Gardens.

Emilie added: “It wasn’t the day I was expecting to have, that’s for sure, but I feel like I was very lucky with how things turned out.

The fallen branch

(Image: Provided)

“I believe that the trees should be at least trimmed so incidents like this won’t happen again.”

City of York Council have been contacted for comment on this.