Another driver crashes at Billerica auto auction

BILLERICA, Mass. — Another driver lost control of a car Wednesday morning at the Lynnway Auto Auction, slamming into a concrete barrier, witnesses told Boston 25 News.

A witness told Boston 25 News that a Ford Explorer was about the enter the viewing lane and started to drift to one side.

“He wasn't paying attention, was drifting, drifting, drifting,” said the witness, an auto dealer.

The SUV then smashed into a concrete barrier - the driver got out, shaken but unharmed, said the dealer. No one was injured, but the incident comes three weeks after five people were during in a crash inside the auction.

At the beginning of May, a Jeep suddenly accelerated in the auction house, driving through a building full of people and finally coming to stop when it crashed into the building. Several were injured and five died; the driver told Boston 25 News that it was a vehicle malfunction, but district attorney's office is still investigating.

The dealer was at the auction house for both incidents and told Boston 25 News that this Wednesday was the final straw.

“I'm constantly looking over my shoulders now, when I'm at that auction…I don't really feel that safe,” said the dealer.

Other witnesses told Boston 25 News that the crash happened in the same lane where the Jeep was driving three weeks ago.

See video below from the May 3 crash

“Very dangerous because people usually use those to sit down, and look on their phones and look at other cars, and if someone was sitting on that barrier, they could have got killed,” said the dealer.

He said he and others were thinking about that tragedy again Wednesday.

“They were scared, and other people were angry and people were running towards the car, making sure he wasn't going to accelerate into the building like the other car did,” he said.

The dealer told Boston 25 News that despite new safety procedures, the auction owner needs to review policies on the drivers navigating the vehicles through the lanes

In a statement, a spokesperson for the auction said, “Lynnway Auto is taking safety matters very seriously. As we've said, we have installed temporary barriers in the auction space and are scheduled to install other permanent safety measures (bollards) very soon. We have additional safety personnel on hand and are strongly reinforcing driver safety practices. This morning a car grazed a barrier outside the building. Some yellow paint rubbed off on the car and one area of sheet metal was creased resulting in minimal damage. Neither the safety of drivers nor patrons was impacted.”

It's still unknown if anyone will be charged for the original crash; District Attorney Marian Ryan said that the investigation would be lengthy.

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