SeeCalifornia.com

The tour boat, Showboat,  passes by Balboa Island to watch a submerged minivan being pulled from the water on Friday the 13th.  See more photos>>

Friday the 13th was a lucky day for Taiwanese tourists visiting Newport Beach. The lives of the Chang family– a husband, wife and two children age 4 & 6– were miraculously spared after their mini-van plunged off the Newport Beach Ferry into the Newport Harbor on Friday the 13th.

Witnesses saw a black Mercedes entering the ferry, striking the parked minivan, and forcing it through a metal guard rail into the bay.  A ferry employee jumped into the water and boaters in small craft pulled the family through the windows of the rental car moments before the van was submerged, disappearing beneath the surface of the water. One eye witness we spoke with said,  “They were rescued in the nick of time. Talk about luck!”

No injuries were reported in the accident involving the female driver of the Mercedes Benz who said the accelerator was stuck as she drove her car onto the ferry, and the four members of the family hoping to take a leisurely five minute trip across the bay in their rental car to arrive in time for a whale watching tour departing Newport Landing. That was lucky!

And even when the Taiwanese tourists were refused a replacement from their rental car company (though it wasn’t their fault,) Newport Beach Police Association and Newport Beach Police Management Association arranged and paid for a  rental vehicle with a different company so the family wouldn’t be stranded. Some call that luck, though it was certainly an act of kindness.

While you may think that being in such an accident is unlucky, the best possible outcome occurred, thanks to a quick-thinking ferry employee and nearby observers who rescued the family out the car windows of the silver Dodge Grand Caravan in the nick of time. One child needed to be unleashed from her seatbelt and lifted out, in fact.

The woman whose car rammed into the minivan was reportedly a local Balboa Island resident who takes the ferry often. According to a Facebook page it says that Lisa Waites, the Mercedes driver, works for Princess Yachts.

Are you worried about Friday the 13th? Don’t be! Sometimes when things happen, people have opportunities to perform heroic acts, and the recipients of kind deeds learn just how lucky Friday the 13th can be!

Note: The Taiwanese family had visited Southern California were then heading toward San Diego to round out their family vacation. We hope they look back at the trip positively as a Friday 13th to remember in the year 2012.