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A tree fell across my driveway and I can't get my car out — what should I do?

Trunk lying across the drive with vehicles boxed in or locked out, canopy sprawling into the ditch or the road, and typically a lifted root plate standing at one end like an open door. Walk the full length and check the far end before anything else — the canopy is where a service drop gets caught. Primarily an access and egress problem rather than a structural one. The tree has already done the thing you were afraid of. The hazard that remains is stored energy in the wood — trunk sections under bind, and spring poles among the bent saplings underneath — which is a cutting hazard, not a falling one.

What to do about it

Within days. Normally a storm damage cleanup job, $400–$4,000 around Indianapolis depending on size and access.

Can the tree be kept

No — it is already down. What is still saveable is your driveway surface and the trees next to it. A crew that skids the trunk across asphalt instead of lifting it will gouge sealcoat and crack edges, and an upright root plate left standing at the end can slam back into its hole once the weight of the trunk is cut away from it.

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