BALTIMORE — Car debris lines the side of the street in the 5600 block of Belair Road. It's the remains from cars that have been hit as neighbors say vehicles race up and down the road all hours of the day and night.
"It's like a speedway, they treat it like its the Indy 500,” said Stephanie Hill who fell victim to the careless driving.
Around 2 in the morning Sunday, her neighbor woke her telling her that her car had been hit. The damage was worse than she imagined.
"Then I walked around the side and that's when I saw everything, my tires was flat, the steering wheel lock was through my window and it was just mangled,” said Hill.
The impact was enough to move the car parked behind hers. "They had to be driving really fast in order to do this much damage, like they hit the lady's car back here and it's on the curb now. Like her car didn't start out on the curb.”
Tanya Cherry lives off Belair Road and watched from her window as one of the cars that night crashed inches from her neighbor's door to the basement.
"He says he was busting a u-turn but he ended up on the curb almost in somebody’s basement," said Cherry.
Neighbors feel at risk parking in front of their own homes.
"We asked for speed cameras, this is the second car accident within two weeks. And they damage all the cars. We don't feel safe,” said Cherry.
But it's not just the cars getting hit that's at risk. Hill says Saturday evening kids were out in that same area.
"They were in the pool playing, they had their skates on, there's kids out here that play on a regular basis. So it's like when is someone going to do something about it,” asked Hill.
Cherry runs a daycare business and says she can't let the children go far from the front door. "I tell them don't get off the porch or don't go out the yard, you're going to get run over. You get off the porch something might jump up on the curb and hit you.”
We reached out to councilwoman Danielle McCray as this is her district. She sent a statement to WMAR saying:
“My office is committed to engaging our residents and generating solutions in collaboration with our City agencies, community-based organizations, and neighborhood community associations. Through my engagement with DOT and Northeast BPD partners, we know that these traffic incidents are predominately tied to trends that both agencies are actively investigating and aiming to eliminate. I will continue to advocate and collectively work with all stakeholders to preserve a safe environment on the Belair Road corridor.”
Residents say they just want something in place to make cars go the speed limit.
As for Hill, she's without a car while she waits for the police to release the report and insurance to assess the damage.
