Runaway Car Slams Into Three Huntington Beach Homes

A quiet Huntington Beach neighborhood may never be the same after a teenager plowed through multiple dwellings. No one was seriously hurt.

According to police, the car was driving northbound on Newland Street near Yorktown Avenue around 10:40 p.m. on July 26, 2025, when it took down a tree and damaged three homes. The home with the most damage had a mother and her two children inside.

The alleged driver of the car was a 17-year-old boy with an 18-year-old passenger, according to the Huntington Beach Police Department. Both vehicle occupants were taken to a hospital. The driver was cited for driving without a licence and reckless driving.

“It terrified us. It’s a scary thought because in the past, a few years back, I had the same situation. We were dead asleep in the middle of the night and woke up to a loud sound and both of our cars were totaled by one small car,” one witness remarked.

Vehicle Collisions and Excessive Speed

Speed is a factor in about a third of the fatal car crashes in the Golden State. A velocity high enough to penetrate three houses is clearly negligent. But a lower excessive velocity may not constitute negligence in civil court.

To draw the line between negligent and not negligent, Car Accident Injury Lawyers in California sometimes rely on eyewitness statements or expert assessments. However, at best, these things only estimate speed.

An Electronic Data Recorder is different. This onboard computer tracks and records vehicle speed and other important information, such as steering angle and brake application. An EDR provides precise information about vehicle speed. Furthermore, a computer, unlike a lay or expert witness, is never incorrect or biased.

A car accident attorney in California must act quickly to preserve EDR data and other physical evidence before the insurance company “accidentally” destroys it.

Who Was Driving the Car?

This evidence issue is often significant in criminal court but not in civil court, because of the lower burden of proof.

A DUI collision is a good example. Usually, when emergency responders arrive, non-seriously injured people have exited their vehicles. So, there’s no way to tell, with absolute certainty, who was driving the car and therefore who is legally responsible for damages.

Prosecutors must establish every element of a criminal offense, including the D in a DUI, beyond a reasonable doubt. So, a credible witness must “wheel” the driver. But California Car Accident Attorneys must prove facts by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). If Joe was in the car, it’s more likely than not that he was driving it.

Contact Our Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys

Speed Racer often causes serious injuries. For a free consultation with experienced California personal injury lawyers, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.

Credit: Photo by Midjourney