A road in Seattle has been named the worst street in America because it is home to weekly car accidents, leaving residents in dire financial straits.
Residents of Rainier Avenue have long complained about cars crashing into their homes due to reckless driving.
As recently as April, a car drove through the main entrance of a warehouse, leaving broken glass all over the Avenue.
Emergency services rushed the 28-year-old driver to a nearby hospital. The driver was in stable condition while the car was being towed away.
Although police have not yet been able to determine why the accident happened, local residents have their own theories about it.
Residents of Rainier Avenue have long complained about car collisions or vehicles crashing into their homes due to reckless driving.
Residents of the area have a number of theories about why there are still so many car accidents
Homeowner Cindy Sell, who has lived on the road for years, said: ‘No speed limit is respected, people treat it like a highway.
Accidents happen every week, weekly. All times of the day, so not just an evening number.’
Neighbors say the ongoing accidents are not only a financial burden, but also make them question their safety.
Madelyn Jung is another landlord who suffered serious property damage after three vehicles crashed into her home this year.
Just last weekend she woke up to find a car had driven over the edge of her house and landed on her patio.
Earlier this month, another car crashed into a telephone pole right in front of her garage.
“You wake up, and you hear the sounds, and you don’t know where they’re coming from. And you know crashes have a certain sound that wakes you up and you just know,” Jung said KIRO7.
Homeowner Cindy Sell, who has lived on the road for years, said, “No speed limit is being respected, people are being treated like a highway.”
Neighbors say the ongoing crashes are not only a financial burden, but are also leaving them questioning their safety.
In January, another car crashed into a huge boulder along the road that was supposed to protect her home, but instead the car ended up in it.
“I asked, ‘Where is that boulder?’ It wasn’t until the police shone the light on the window that I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s in the bedroom,’” she recalled.
Resident Kat Sims, who has lived on Rainier Avenue for more than 13 years, noted that the number of collisions seems to be getting worse every year.
‘Three cars were completely destroyed, one car drove through the fence and the roof of our house.
‘No one was spared. I can tell you that family after family did not have one car accident [their house]or hit their house, or hit their garage once, but multiple times, over and over and over again,’ Sims said.
Madelyn Jung is a landlord who has suffered severe property damage this year alone after three vehicles crashed into her home
“I said, ‘Where is the rock?’ And it wasn’t until the police shone the light on the window and I said, ‘Oh my God, it’s in the bedroom,’” Jung recalled
Resident Kat Sims, who has lived on Rainier Avenue for more than 13 years, noted that the collisions seem to get worse every year
Last year, officers took a 10-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a 43-year-old woman to hospital after they were hit by a driver on the devastated road.
According to Detective Valerie Carson, a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department, one vehicle was involved in the collision and the driver remained on the scene but was not arrested.
Reports of these types of accidents continue to pour in, despite efforts by the Seattle Department of Transportation to repair the city’s “highest collision corridor.”
In an August 2020 report, officials noted that redesigning the corridor through geometry changes, traffic signal control, speed limit adjustments and transit efficiency improvements such as new bus lanes reduced accidents by 15 percent.
Last year, officers took a 10-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a 43-year-old woman to hospital after they were hit by a driver on Avenue
Reports of these types of accidents continue to pour in despite efforts by the Seattle Department of Transportation to repair the city’s “highest collision corridor”
But the crashes keep piling up.
A traffic report released later that year found that vehicles struck pedestrians about 18 times on Rainier Avenue South, even after the design changes.
Despite this, residents remain hopeful about the city’s Vision Zero plan, which was launched in 2015.
The plan aims to end road deaths and serious injuries on city streets by 2030.
Currently, the Department of Transportation is aiming to complete initial intersection safety improvements at Rainier Avenue South and S Sturtevant St, as well as Rainier Ave South and 54th Ave S.