See Why Cars Keep Flying Off The Road And Crashing Onto This San Diego Restaurant's Parking Lot: Report

LA MESA, CA — In the past four years, at least seven vehicles have gone flying off the road and dropped 25 feet down an embankment into a parking lot in La Mesa, according to NBC 7 San Diego, which reported the property’s manager has had enough.

Blake Hertel of the Westphal Co. runs the office and retail complex that is also home to the Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar at Fuerte Drive and Grossmont Boulevard off Interstate 8, the outlet reported.

Earlier this spring, Hertel’s property saw two crashes in under two weeks, according to NBC 7, adding that in one crash, a car flipped and hit a parked vehicle with a person inside.

“How many more of these are we going to have before something worse happens?” he asked in an interview with the outlet.

Hertel first contacted San Diego County Public Works about the issue in 2021 and eventually was told the area met the criteria for a guardrail but that the project would take years, NBC 7 reported.

The county put up one sign and moved another, and, last month, when Hertel told the county he was going to contact the media, it installed white posts, according to the outlet.

Director of Public Works Marisa Barrie told NBC 7 the project was one of 76 unfunded guardrails and the county is unsure if it is necessary, citing uncertainty about the root source of the crashes.

For now, the county plans to install a white barricade in the fall for $50,000 rather than pay over $500,000 for a guardrail, the outlet reported.

Read more from NBC 7.