A driver traveling down Niles Vienna Road says she turned around to see what happened when a van in front of her disappeared in the distance.

"They spun out and went into the water," Frances Chervinko said, of Sharon, Pa.

She noticed the Astro van crashed into the lake and landed on its side.

Mike Montler, of Niles, says he was on his way to work when he saw what happened and pulled over to help. He quickly jumped over the embankment and onto the ice.

"I just went into adrenaline mode," Montler said. 

He tried to reach the family through the passenger side door. He noticed it was locked and asked the mother to try and unlock the door.

"I leaned my head in and I said 'you know how many people are in there?', she goes me and my four or five children- that's when my throat dropped," he said.

Montler says he pulled the door open and got each child out. He handed them off to another man who helped lift them to shore. 

Two women and two men helped the family before police arrived just a few minutes after the crash. 

Chervinko kept the two 6-year-olds, a 5-year-old, 2-year-old and 1-year-old in her car where it was warm. She says one of the little boys was soaking wet, so she wrapped him in her warm coat.

Vienna Police Chief Bob Ludt describe the crash as a lucky scenario that could have ended much worse.

"In this weather, with these weather conditions and go into a frozen lake, very lucky," Ludt said.

This isn't the first time a crash like this has happened in this area. Ludt says speeding is often a problem on what's known as "dead man's curve" leading up to the lane along the lake.

21 News asked if police would consider adding a guardrail to that portion of Niles Vienna Road. Ludt says he's planning to talk with the Trumbull County Engineer's office to see what can be done. 21 New crews saw vehicles from the engineer's office on the scene of the crash throughout the day Tuesday.

George Mateyko lives across the street from where the crash happened. He says he heard commotion outside and saw police outside.

He put up signs near the curve on his street that say "dead man's curve" to warn drivers to slow down.

"It's a bad curve and people just don't realize they go too fast on this road," he said.

Vienna police say this isn't the first time something like this has happened and speeding in this area is a problem.

George Mateyko, who lives in the area, says he and his friend put up a sign dubbing the road "Dead Man's Curve," and crashes here aren't anything new.

"About two months ago a guy coming around that curve, it was dry, and a small pickup truck lost it and wiped the pole out and got hung up on the guardrail," said Mateyko.

Police say they are looking into whether guardrails can be installed in the area.