NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A driver sneezed Wednesday morning causing him to veer off the road and crash his truck and trailer into a New Smyrna Beach canal.
The driver walked away from the crash but a neighbor said accidents happen all too often on Edgewater Canal Road and she wants something to be done.
"Not sure how it happened, but my truck is in the canal. I sneezed and blacked out for a quick second," said the driver on the phone with emergency dispatch.
Robin Sasse showed up just minutes after the crash to make sure the driver was OK.
"I was just talking about when this was going to happen again. It's pretty deep. It's pretty scary," said Sasse. "The whole truck was submerged except probably about a foot from the cab."
Sasse said she's lived around the corner since 2002 and has seen it all, including speeders and drivers not being mindful of the sharp curve, especially at night. Sasse said she's seen several cars that have ended up in the canal.
"There's no railing. When I drive down here and at night. And maybe there's one light or two lights, I drive down the middle of the road with my brights on," she said.
Work crews poured fresh dirt to cover the area where Wednesday's accident happened.
"We saw them fixing the canal as much as they can and I think that's the problem. They can't really put a border or a railing or anything here because sometimes they need to dredge it," said Sasse. "If they don't want to put a guardrail at least put some lights, put some better reflectors on the lanes not just the middle. Because, I'm afraid of what happened to this guy will happen to me."
There is a guardrail at the intersection of Edgewater Canal Road and Tatum Boulevard.
Volusia County told News 6, there have been no complaints or requests for guardrails or lighting in the last 10 years. The county said it's important for residents to submit requests so crews can assess the roads and conduct traffic studies for possible solutions.
To submit a request residents can visit volusia.org and click on the "Request a service tab" and then "Traffic Engineering."