Cedar Park eyes security barriers after dental office crash, KXAN report

CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) -- Ayrat Yunosov, an office manager at Cedar Park Dental Wellness, couldn't believe what he heard -- and then saw.

"I just heard that loud bang," Yunosov said. "Instead of reversing out of the parking spot, the driver just pressed the gas and slammed into the storefront."

"It was kind of like an explosion," he added.

In July, a truck smashed into his wife's dental office, and into the same room where a patient finished treatment "maybe 30 minutes earlier," he recalled. On Oct. 16, there was another crash in Cedar Park at a CAVA restaurant. No injuries were reported in either crash.

"I think it's a miracle that we didn't get hurt," Yunusov said. "Luckily nobody got hurt. That's the biggest relief for us."

It was a different story in 2017 when a six-year-old child was killed and a half-dozen hurt after a vehicle drove through the front entrance of a dental office in Alabama. One witness said the vehicle "zoomed through the window."

"The baby's family — you won't ever be able to console them, 'cause look where they were," witness Mildred Bennett said. "In a safe place."

Following this, the Midfield City Council, near Birmingham, passed an ordinance requiring crash-rated, or engineer-certified, steel bollards at buildings where parking is within 10 feet of an entrance. The council noted that many deaths "are preventable" when impact safety devices, like bollards, are used.

'Good policy'

Now, less than a month before the Austin City Council is set to vote on an ordinance that would require crash-rated security bollards at new hospitals, Cedar Park is also eyeing safety measures following the two recent crashes and a KXAN investigation, which found more than 300 vehicle-into-building crashes at medical centers across the country in the past decade.

"For me, it was just kind of a sobering reminder of the complexity of the problem," Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said when he learned of the crashes in his city.

Penniman-Morin said he will be watching next month's vote in Austin "with interest" and agreed a similar bollard requirement could be a model for his own city, although he expressed concerns over cost.

"We're always looking at all options for increasing safety in this city," he said. "How can we always kind of be thinking ahead? And not reacting to the most recent tragedy."

The Cedar Park City Council is currently drafting transportation design standards to improve safety. While the mayor is focused on urban planning dealing with road design, speed limits and pedestrian crossings, he said bollards are "certainly in the mix," particularly when it comes to medical facilities, which he said "makes sense."

This comes nine months after a drunk driver crashed into the lobby of St. David's North Austin Medical Center, killing herself and injuring five.

Council Member Heather Jefts declined an on-camera interview but told KXAN she appreciates our reporting. She now plans to bring our findings up with her fellow council members.

"It's also a good time to discuss as we are working on a transportation design criteria manual," Jefts added.

For the mayor, the need for bollards in hospital settings was not previously on his radar.

"It's not something I thought about," he said. "Until you started reporting on it."

"If I had a hospital in Cedar Park, I'd install them," the mayor said. "Whether it should be required by city ordinance -- I think it's a good policy."

'A hundred times a day'

Nearby, we saw multiple, brightly colored, spherical bollards outside the Texas Children's Hospital North Campus in Austin. We saw one at Cedar Park Regional Medical Center, which was installed after KXAN started asking questions following the deadly crash at St. David's NAMC in February.

Neither hospital would say if its bollards are crash-rated to ASTM International standards to stop a vehicle.

A spokesperson for Texas Children's would only say its bollards are made of "reinforced concrete." Cedar Park Regional said it installed three limestone architectural elements and "strategic landscaping" to act as "protective barriers." A spokesperson added it also reviewed its architectural elements that "prevent vehicular access" through its ER doors.

"These combined measures exceed standard safety protocols while maintaining the welcoming, healing environment our patients expect," Cedar Park Regional spokesperson Mackenzie Elliff said. "The design of our facility, coupled with these protective features, provides security without compromising emergency access or patient care."

Elliff thanked KXAN for our continued focus on building safety and security.

"We support any city or state measures that enhance patient and staff safety," she added. "We continuously evaluate and implement security features based on best practices in healthcare facility and design."

"These accidents happen 100 times a day," said Rob Reiter, the co-founder of the non-profit Storefront Safety Council. "And they happen where we live, work, play and shop."

In the past decade, the SSC has tracked more than 30,000 crashes into commercial buildings nationwide. resulting in, on average, 2,600 fatal incidents every year, Reiter said. That means the number of deaths is likely higher.

Last year, a Chicago law firm announced a $91 million settlement against Texas-based 7-Eleven. It put together an animation showing how bollards could have prevented a serious crash that resulted in a double amputation. The lawsuit revealed more than 6,000 vehicles had crashed into 7-Eleven stores over a 15-year period. Since May, KXAN has sent the convenience store chain multiple requests for comment but never heard back.

Experts say these types of crashes can be prevented with crash-rated bollards. Earlier this year, KXAN watched two crash tests at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute to see, firsthand, how they can stop a speeding vehicle.

"So many of these things happen in very predictable places for very predictable reasons," Reiter added. "People have these accidents because a driver makes a mistake and hits the wrong pedal, the driver's distracted, the driver's in a hurry."

Reiter is now working with attorney Sean Breen as an expert consultant in a lawsuit against St. David's North Austin Medical Center after Breen's clients, the Bernards, were seriously hurt in the February crash there.

"In certain areas, hospitals always have bollards in the areas that this hospital should have had," Reiter told Breen at his West Campus office on a recent trip to Austin. "And I see big health care chains, particularly on the west coast, who've done it routinely for 10 years or more. So, the absence of it ... really talks about really talks about how much the health care provider cares about it ... Sometimes it's a question of why do people in this zip code deserve to be taken care of but people in that zip code don't deserve it?"

Reiter has also been contacted by Austin City Councilmember Zo Qadri's office. Qadri is now looking into a bollard requirement for Austin's downtown entertainment district a decade after four people were killed, and nearly 30 hurt, when a man drove into a crowd during South by Southwest. The driver, Rashad Owens, was drunk and fleeing police when he drove into crowds of people at speeds of around 55 m.p.h.

In 2015, Owens was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"We have been chatting about investing in bollards for the entertainment district with various staff departments and I would appreciate any insight you can provide as we explore this," Qadri's chief of staff said in an email to Reiter that was shared with KXAN on Oct. 28. "There have been quite a few incidents of pedestrians being hit within this area, especially during large scale events."

In a statement to KXAN, Qadri said discussions are still in the early stages but noted many cities use bollards to "great effect." He said he is "very open" to "simple and effective commonsense measures that save lives."

Last month, city leaders proposed a "pedestrian plaza" that could one day cover a stretch of Congress Avenue.

'When, not if'

"Eventually the law of physics catches up with you," Reiter told Breen. "It's always a question of when, not if" a crash will happen.

Indeed, on Wednesday, a vehicle drove into an opioid addiction treatment center in Ohio, pinning a woman underneath and sending her to the hospital. Police blamed the crash on "pedal confusion" and said the driver suffered minor injuries, according to a local news report. Just a week ago, another car crashed into a medical center. The driver accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brakes at an urgent care in Rhode Island, according to police. And, two weeks ago, yet another car drove into a hospital emergency room in Maryland. Police are investigating but at least one witness said the incident appeared intentional. The driver pulled out a knife and was arrested.

"The way he got out of the car, you saw that wasn't an accident," a witness said. "Like, he was mad. Like he wanted to hurt somebody."

Thankfully, no one was hurt in the Rhode Island or Maryland crashes.

Back at Cedar Park Dental Wellness, Yunosov said he "never" thought about crash-rated bollards before KXAN's investigation. Now, it's top of mind. Days after we stopped by, the property manager told KXAN the "safety of the property is really important." In response, 41 concrete curb stops were installed at all storefront-facing parking spots, including Cedar Park Dental Wellness.

The property manager said this felt like "the right first option."

They are now considering bollards.

"That's something I requested," Yunosov said. "So, we'll see what they're going to come up with. But that would be ideal."

KXAN Graphic Artist Wendy Gonzalez, Director of Investigations & Innovation Josh Hinkle, Photojournalist Frank Martinez, Investigative Photojournalist Chris Nelson and Digital Director Kate Winkle contributed to this report.