A driver is “lucky to be alive” after a huge tree collapsed on top of his car, plunging through the windshield and crushing its roof.
Ross Nicholson crawled free with a few minor injuries after his Volkswagen Polo was stopped in its tracks on Longhaugh Road.
Yesterday the 21-year-old described the moment his vehicle was shrouded in “darkness” as the tree crashed down on top of him.
Police Scotland were called to the site shortly before 3pm and closed off a section of the road.
Officers sealed off part of the road at its junctions with Pitkerro Road and Finlaggan Crescent for several hours as landscape gardening staff removed the debris.
The tree had been situated within a fenced off area near to the roadside where plant machinery was also visible.
Speaking at the scene a visibly shaken Ross thanked those who had stopped to assist – including a nurse – as he described the moments in the lead-up to the incident.
“The police and some of the guys who had seen it were saying ‘I’m lucky to be here’,” he said.
“It’s not really sunk in but they were saying if I had maybe been driving a wee bit quicker I might have been gone.
“Although it happened so quick a part of me does feel like it was going in slow motion and the next moment all I heard was bang.
“A nurse lived nearby and she sat me down and phoned the ambulance. I’ve got a wee cut on my hand and a sore neck – the tree literally hit me on the head.
“I’ve had checks from the paramedics and they’ve told me I’m fine.”
The former St Paul’s Academy pupil said he had to crawl out of the vehicle during the ordeal.
He added: “I was going at the usual speed for that section and next thing I knew it was going dark as the tree came down.
“The tree’s fallen right down on the windscreen and smashed right through and come right into the car and it’s also dented the roof.
“It was a struggle to get out the car, I had to snap a branch that had bent around the door handle and I had to kick the driver side door open.
“The tree was blocking the door but I managed to crawl out, the adrenaline was obviously running at this point I think I got out quite quickly.
“Unfortunately it looks like my car is write-off with the damage that has happened, I’ve only had the car for just over a year.”
A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene and said it was a “miracle” no one had been seriously injured.
One man added: “There was quite a crowd had gathered after the incident. Loads of folk were amazed at the size of the tree that had toppled on the boy’s car.
“It’s a miracle no one was seriously hurt given how busy that road can be.”
A spokesman for Police Scotland added: “Officers in Dundee were called to the report of a tree having fallen onto a vehicle on Longhaugh Road around 2.50pm on Monday, January 18.”
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