North Kingstown mother says tree limb falls on car in freak accident

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WLNE): A North Kingstown mother says her family is lucky to be alive after a freak accident.

Hilary Black was driving her kids to school last Wednesday when a tree limb came crashing down on her windshield. She said if it happened a split second later, it could’ve hit her backseat where her children were sitting.

Black is an elementary school teacher in Narragansett where her son also goes to school. But first, she drops off her daughter.

“My children and I leave at 7:30 every morning and we meet my grandmother who takes my daughter to school,” Black said.

Last Wednesday was anything but ordinary. Her son noticed the wind as they were driving on Newcomb Road near Nesta Drive in North Kingstown.

“He was like mother nature seems really mad this morning,” Black recalled. “So we are driving and I go maybe we should tell her we love her. Not even a minute later. I had this tree limb in my windshield.”

Both of her children were in the backseat and thankfully no one was injured.

“I just keep thinking if it had been one more second then the impact would have been on the back of the car,” Black said.

According to Black, the tree limb fell about 30 to 40 feet above the street.

While most of it is a blur, she remembers a group of strangers jumping in to help.

“There was one woman with my daughter, they were unpacking my car and hugging my kids,” Black said. “Another woman called the police. They moved my car off to the side.”

It could have been any driver or parent, which is why Black says safety is the biggest take-away.

“Obviously you can’t avoid nature, but make sure the kids are safe and buckled because my daughter used to argue with me all the time, asking why can’t I just sit in the regular seat,” Black said. ” I’m like accidents happen.”