--- title: Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Car in Freak Accident description: A woman whose car was crushed by a falling freeway sign in Australia has survived the accident. See the terrifying footage. canonical: https://time.com/5498049/freeway-sign-falls-on-car/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-09T17:35:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:49.979Z og:title: Woman Survives After Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Her Car in Freak Accident og:description: The roof of the car was caved in og:url: https://time.com/5498049/freeway-sign-falls-on-car/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt561f3306d8a6fe0e/698942f4db2987a5ba2619b7/gettyimages-903164680.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Freeway-Sign-Falls-On-Car og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Woman Survives After Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Her Car in Freak Accident twitter:description: The roof of the car was caved in twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt561f3306d8a6fe0e/698942f4db2987a5ba2619b7/gettyimages-903164680.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Woman Survives After Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Her Car in Freak Accident  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 9, 2019 5:35 PM UTC  Woman survives crashing sign in Melbourne Australia Woman survives crashing sign in Melbourne AustraliaGuiga Pir—Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 9, 2019 5:35 PM UTC A woman whose [car](http://time.com/4723114/50-worst-cars-of-all-time/) was crushed by a falling freeway sign in [Australia](http://time.com/5497969/australian-prime-minister-scott-morrison-photoshop-shoes/) on Tuesday has survived the accident. In terrifying footage captured by the dashcam of the driver directly behind the car involved in the incident, a massive road sign suspended over Melbourne’s Tullamarine Freeway can be seen caving in the roof of the vehicle of 53-year-old Nella Lettieri, according to [9NEWS](https://www.9news.com.au/2019/01/09/11/19/news-melbourne-tullamarine-dashcam-footage-shows-shocking-moments-a-freeway-sign-crushes-a-car). Lettieri was reportedly taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with neck injuries and is in stable condition. Transportation officials are currently investigating the cause of the accident and inspecting similar signs for issues. Major Road Projects Authority delivery director Graeme Chambers told [Melbourne radio station 3AW](https://www.9news.com.au/2019/01/09/11/19/news-melbourne-tullamarine-dashcam-footage-shows-shocking-moments-a-freeway-sign-crushes-a-car) that the wind was not a factor and that the problem appeared to be with the sign’s connection to the overhead gantry support structure. “It \[will be\] all subject to detailed and thorough investigation,” Chambers said, according to [_The Sydney Morning Herald_](https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/tullamarine-freeway-sign-falls-and-crushes-car-injuring-woman-20190109-p50qai.html?ref=rss&utm%5Fmedium=rss&utm%5Fsource=rss%5Ffeed). “It is an extremely rare event. We last night mobilised our engineers as soon as we learnt of the incident. Watch the video below. > [](https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1082853994626715648) Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Car in Freak Accident ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5498049/freeway-sign-falls-on-car/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5498049/freeway-sign-falls-on-car/"},"headline":"Woman Survives After Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Her Car in Freak Accident","datePublished":"2019-01-09T17:35:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:49.979Z","description":"The roof of the car was caved in","url":"https://time.com/5498049/freeway-sign-falls-on-car/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Australia","Accidents"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt561f3306d8a6fe0e/698942f4db2987a5ba2619b7/gettyimages-903164680.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt561f3306d8a6fe0e/698942f4db2987a5ba2619b7/gettyimages-903164680.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Freeway-Sign-Falls-On-Car","caption":"Woman survives crashing sign in Melbourne Australia","creditText":"Guiga Pir—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5498049/freeway-sign-falls-on-car/","name":"Woman Survives After Freeway Sign Falls and Crushes Her Car in Freak Accident"}}]}] ```