Two Bronx drivers parked and walked off just moments before a driver swerved into oncoming traffic and destroyed both their cars

Two drivers in the Bronx said they feel lucky after they reportedly avoided what could have been a serious crash on Monday morning in the Morrisania neighborhood, according to News 12 Bronx. Both men said they had stepped away from their parked cars only moments before the collision happened.

The crash reportedly took place at around 11:30 a.m. near the intersection of Boston Road and Union Avenue. Surveillance video captured a car swerving into oncoming traffic before it slammed into a parked truck and then crashed into a Toyota Highlander.

The impact was so strong that the Highlander was launched onto another parked vehicle, which shattered the windshield, according to the report. Video footage showed an SUV resting on top of a minivan at the scene.

Two minutes earlier and they would have been sitting right there

Essa Jabbie said he had parked his Toyota Highlander moments earlier and had stepped inside a nearby grocery store when he suddenly heard a loud crash outside. “I hear the noise – boom! So I thought, ‘oh, an accident happened,’ and I see my car on top of another car over there,” Jabbie said.

Jabbie said he missed being inside the vehicle by less than two minutes. “Two minutes! Not even two minutes, and accident happens,” he said. “I have a family, I have two girls and this is my wife, so thank God I’m not in my car.” Other drivers have faced sudden moments like this too, including one Orlando man whose Lamborghini was hit by a passing vehicle.

While he said he was grateful to have avoided being inside the car during the crash, Jabbie said the accident has left him facing another challenge, which is the loss of the vehicle he relies on to support his family as an Uber driver. “I have a family, I have to pay my rent and bills,” he said.

Another driver whose vehicle was damaged, Tyreq Chiles, said he had also stepped away from his car just moments before the impact. Chiles said he had been cleaning out his work vehicle before he decided to leave earlier than he had planned. “It was messy. I did cut some corners, so if I did the full process, who knows how long I would have been in there,” Chiles said. He said he is thankful that his decision may have saved his life.

Justice Villaba, who reportedly works next door to where the crash happened, said he was among the first people to rush outside after he heard the collision and that he found the driver trapped inside the vehicle. “I saw he was trapped inside, so I wanted to help him out. I saw oil. I was scared it was going to catch fire,” Villaba said. “He was disoriented and wasn’t coherent during the first couple seconds.” His worry about fire echoes another case where a prize Lamborghini caught fire on the road while being driven.

Villaba said dangerous driving in the area is something he regularly witnesses, and he said he believes the outcome could have been even worse. “Thank goodness we weren’t out there,” Villaba said. “Usually, we put things in and out this truck. My son’s school is up the block, and they always have literally a class of 20 kids coming up this block, so thank God he ain’t hit nobody.”

The driver involved in the crash was reportedly taken to a local hospital. Witnesses at the scene told News 12 that the driver was conscious and was able to walk and talk after the collision. “He had to have been going well over 25 and on the other side of the street,” Villaba said.