MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — A wide open stretch of Eastern Boulevard, a big bend in the road and businesses directly in their path when motorists lose control.
It happened again Thursday afternoon forcing Alice’s Family Restaurant to shut down.
“Came off the road, hit our sign and continued down alongside our building, hit our gas lines and ended up in George’s Bait Shop before he finally stopped,” said the restaurant’s co-owner, Darlene Goding.
Since the head-on collision that claimed 23-year-old Alexis Steele’s life back in November, this makes three more accidents on the same stretch of road, including another fatality in mid-March.
“We see firsthand those four accidents happened within hundreds of feet of each other. Four of them with two people dying,” said Goding. “People are just not paying attention. I know how fast they go up and down these roads.”
Goding says she’s not sure what it will take---lowering the speed limit? Speed bumps? Maybe another signal light or speed limit enforcement to slow down traffic?
For now, police are encouraging drivers to help make a difference.
“Well, right now, with the stay-at-home order and the pandemic, we’re asking everybody when you’re on the road, just be mindful of the speed limit and drive in a necessary manner,” said Det. Rob Reason of the Baltimore County Police Department. “We want to avoid as many accidents as possible.”
It’s a point shared by Goding who has grown tired of the carnage.
“How many more accidents are there going to be right here in front of us?” Goding asked. “I’m here. I don’t want to say fortunate, but every time there’s an accident, I’m right here. I work here and I live here. So I see them firsthand… how bad they are. It’s terrible.”
While the costs of lost business and repairs continues to mount, Goding says her biggest concern is for the safety of her workers, her customers and even the motorists, themselves, until something can be done.
