After more than 100 accidents in 5 years on busy west Wichita road, residents plead for drivers to slow down
WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Kevin Price has lived within a mile of Tyler and 9th his whole life. While he loves just about every aspect of his west Wichita neighborhood, there's one problem.
"It's very loud, and it does – it shakes the whole neighborhood," said Price.
He's not talking about explosions or loud music. He's talking about what seems to be never-ending wrecks.
"It was about two in the morning. My phone rang, and it was a police officer, and he was on my deck over here. And he said, can you come upstairs and talk to me? There's a car in your backyard," said Price, recalling one of the previous accidents.
Several years ago, a car nearly hit his house, driving through several backyards.
In August 2020, a car slammed into his neighbor's house. Then, just a couple of months later, another wreck in the same spot killed a 16-year-old girl.
"She ended up in the middle of the street right behind me here. And none of us could save her," said Price.
Monday afternoon was yet another day Price walked out his back door to a pile of debris.
"We have five people that went to the hospital with potentially serious injuries," said Sgt. Nikki Woodrow with the Wichita Police Department, talking about Monday's crash.
Thankfully this time, no one was killed, but it's a problem WPD is well aware of.
"People are speeding. There's a bump in the road, they hit that bump, and when you're not going 40, or the speed limit, I mean, that can cause catastrophic damage," said Woodrow.
Police say there have been 22 accidents at one intersection in the past year and more than 100 accidents in the area since 2018, and that doesn't even include non-injury accidents with only minor damage.
While Price admits he's not sure what the city can do to solve the problem, he says it all starts and ends, with drivers.
"We don't have an answer as neighbors here. It's just been a matter of speed. It's not a matter of putting in a light or a crosswalk. It's simply a matter of just speed," said Price.