A near tragedy was averted at the Irving Big Stop on the TCH in Clarenville earlier today.

Staff at the service station say a car nearly flew off the rear of the lot just before noon.

The only thing stopping it — a concrete barrier placed there for that very reason.

An employee tells VOCM News that the elderly man driving the sedan accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake as he was coming to a stop.

None of the several people in the car were injured, but they were certainly left shaken by incident, said the Irving staffer.

She said without the barrier the vehicle would’ve plunged hundreds of feet down and into the backyards of seniors homes below.