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'Miscalculated' turn destroys mail relay box in Shadyside
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A driver turning left from Fifth Avenue onto Devonshire Street lost control and ended up wedged between a fire hydrant and a tree, destroying a mailbox in the process.
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A sport-utility vehicle wreaked havoc on a brown mailbox in Shadyside, narrowly missing a mailman who said he had been working in the box just seconds before it was smashed Friday afternoon.
The driver said he "miscalculated" a turn from Fifth Avenue onto Devonshire Street shortly after 1 p.m., and his vehicle knocked the mailbox off its concrete base before it wedged between a tree and a fire hydrant.
The driver, whose name was not released, was not hurt.
The brown mailbox is called a relay box, used to hold mail that is waiting to be delivered.
A letter carrier, who asked that his name not be used, said he was collecting mail in the box "not 30 seconds before [the SUV] hit."
"He came within 10 feet [of me]," he said.
The letter carrier estimated that the car was traveling 15 mph.
With relative ease, a flatbed tow truck driver shimmied the vehicle out of its odd position between the tree and the fire hydrant. Firefighters tested the hydrant, which spewed brown water but appeared to be in working order.
First Published March 9, 2013 12:00 am
