Ben Neufeld described his wife as "calm as a cucumber" after their car flipped onto its side outside the couple's Bel-Air home, leaving her trapped in the driver's seat and providing a photo opportunity for the unflappable pair.
The pictures show the woman still inside the blue Honda, which rolled onto its driver's side door Friday after apparently striking a high curb on Linda Flora Drive. Her husband, who was inside their home when he heard what he said sounded like someone moving garbage can, is pictured outside the car holding her purse.
After hearing the crash, Neufeld looked outside and saw neighbors gathering around the car in front of his home.
"So I came out to see and there was my wife in her car, calm as a cucumber," said Neufeld. "I was concerned of course, but everyone was just standing around and she was chatting with them, so I just joined the conversation. I didn't do very much. There wasn't much to do."
The senior couple appeared to be in "very good spirits and safe," said neighbor Ryan Steinberg. The woman even asked her husband for her purse so she could use her cellphone.
"I look out the window and there's a car on the side right in front of our driveway," said Steinberg, who said she appeared to be taking a selfie. "I think it's just going to be an horrific accident, and I look over and there's our elderly neighbor across the street just sitting there like it's no big deal. Her husband just saunters over like it's a walk in the park, sees her, says, 'You ok?'"
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The car was "barely moving" when it apparently rolled after striking high curbing on the tree-lined street, Neufeld said. Another neighbor opened the passenger's side door, making it easier for Neufeld's wife to speak with her husband.
"We were able to chat very comfortably and conveniently," he said. "Eventually, they fished her out and towed the car away and here we are."
The couple then went inside and ate dinner, he added.
As for reports his wife was taking pictures of herself, Neufeld said that doesn't sound like the woman he knows after decades of marriage.
"I'm sure it never occurred to her to take a picture of herself in what must have been an embarassing position," he said.
