Lincoln City Police Car Hit By Falling Tree in Central Oregon Coast Storm: Video

Published 02/28/25 at 8:15 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Lincoln City, Oregon) - Lincoln City Police Department (LCPD) just released video of a massive tree falling on one of their patrol vehicles. Warning: the video does abruptly get extremely loud, even though it's largely silent at the beginning.

LCPD said it happened on February 22, during a major storm that was battering the central Oregon coast Coast Range. Heavy rain and high winds had been forecast and showed up exactly as described.

However, even though this is always a possibility on the coast during storms, one police officer had no idea a tree was coming their way. LCPD said they were patrolling Highway 101 when a large tree suddenly fell across the road and onto the vehicle.

“The officer sustained minor injuries, and the vehicle's windshield, roof, and A-pillars were significantly damaged,” LCPD said. “An oncoming vehicle also came into contact with the tree on the highway, but only minimal damage was reported on the second vehicle.”

Oregon State Police have investigated the collision.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection has edited the video to show the impact moment in slow motion in the second half. You can see the tree leaning, then tipping until it's in full view of the windshield – and for a second it seems to disappear. That is the result of the car moving directly under the tree where the camera cannot see it. Unfortunately, this meant the tree was at that moment hitting the car.

“We are thankful there were no injuries to anyone involved and would like to remind everyone to drive safely and cautiously during storms, especially in forested areas,” LCPD said.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection ran into a similar situation on the central Oregon coast back in May of 2010. Driving south on Highway 101 over Cape Foulweather about 1 a.m., staff encountered a massive tree blocking the road, with a semi and a sedan pulled over, trying to move it enough to get by. Staff got out try and help as well. (Photo Oregon Coast Beachconnection - a split second before the truck hit the tree)

As all were just starting to make progress, another semi truck could be seen coming from the north. Some stood waving their arms and others tried flashing their headlights. Quickly it was realized the driver was not seeing the warnings or the tree, and all were forced to move a safe distance from the tree as it was clear the semi was going to barrel into it. Photo Oregon Coast Beachconnection

With an intense crunching sound and the squeal of emergency brakes, the truck broke through the tree. No one was injured but the semi truck had been severely damaged, with unconfirmed talk of at least two broken axles.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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