Cautious driver's car totalled by dead tree felled by strong wind

A Colorado driver was left cursing his luck on the one hand but thanking his stars on the other after a massive tree came down on his car like a giant hammer.

Richard Lehl told KOAA he noticed the wind picking up as he drove slowly through a residential area in Canon City, in the state's centre, earlier this week.

The dashcammer slowed slightly as he passed one house, unwittingly putting himself bang in the middle of the danger zone.

Mr Lehl's footage shows the tree capitulate in what almost looks like slow motion, with its uppermost boughs crashing through his windscreen and blacking out the camera.

As unfortunate as the incident was, Mr Lehl told the local press he didn't consider the incident all bad, seeing as he somehow come away with barely a scratch.

But that is more than can be said for his car, which is reportedly "totalled".

Adding insult to injury, the man whose property the tree was on told Mr Lehl that he knew the dead wood was dangerous, and that the council had been out to inspect it earlier that day.