Today, Thursday May 28th at around 3:45pm, there was a car crash at the intersection of New York Avenue and Woodland Boulevard in downtown DeLand. Your ever-faithful author was on the scene to report and take pictures.

Eyewitness reports (both yours truly and others on the scene) allege that the silver Toyota Corolla was headed northbound on Woodland when it ran the red light. It was struck by the white Ford F250 traveling west.

Thankfully, there were no injuries to drivers or pedestrians. No airbags deployed. Vehicle damage seemed to consist of a shattered front passenger window, a destroyed side mirror, and a sizable dent for the Toyota. The Ford seemed to fare well, serving as an experiential demonstration of the truck’s durability.

Passersby sprung into action, with some individuals calling first responders while others made sure that the drivers were unharmed. I noticed someone from The Museum of Art – DeLand retrieve cold water bottles for both drivers, and others helped the truck driver catch his breath and re-fortify himself mentally. It was a moment that made me feel deeply proud to be a DeLander, but also surprised by my own response (hang back and take pictures). I will justify my not-springing-into-action as a careful and studied intention to not have too many cooks in the kitchen.

DeLand Police Department and Fire Department arrived quickly to the scene, likely a result of the proximity of the incident to their stations (a mere 2 blocks away). They acted with a swiftness to clear the accident and clean the debris, restoring typical function to the intersection. I was pleased to see the agents’ human-first approach to the involved parties, speaking to them calmly and assuringly.

One positive outcome of the unfortunate circumstances was that I met Kristin Woolard, store manager for The Museum of Art – DeLand and sister of Blake Elliot. She seemed to recognize me from somewhere, which I chalk up to my magnetic personality and timeless sense of style (and her self-asserted tendency to remember faces but not people). I do not recall meeting her before.

I did not stick around to provide an official statement to anyone, neither insurance company nor police.