JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A crash in Jacksonville’s Alderman Park neighborhood has some folks calling for change.
A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report shows a driver was cited for not stopping at the stop sign on Sunnymeade Drive, crashing into another car and causing it to flip.
“It was pretty brutal," said Randall Webb, who lives next to the stop sign.
Webb came home Monday to find a car flipped on its side in front of his home on Valleyview Drive.
Before he could figure out how to help, the first thing he had to do was calm his little girl.
“My seven-year-old, she got kind of scared," said Webb. "She was a little worried, but I told her, ‘He’s alright. He looked okay.’”
Webb says its not the first time he’s had to calm her after a wreck – they’ve seen several in the year and a half they’ve been in the house.
He wasn’t surprised to learn JSO determined the at-fault driver failed to stop at the stop sign.
“We have a lot of people who love speed through here," said Webb. "They don’t ever stop at the stop signs.”
Webb sits on his front porch and watches car after car after car go through the stop sign.
“I will record five or six people daily running these stop signs," said Webb.
Webb believes rumble strips or converting the intersection into a four way stop would help, but the stop signs are clear to see.
“It takes two seconds to stop at a stop sign," said Webb. "Is anything else more important than stopping for those two seconds? I mean, a life could’ve been lost here on Monday. It could’ve been so much worse.”
First Coast News asked a City of Jacksonville spokesperson several questions about the intersection. Here is a list of their responses:
- Can you confirm there’ve been four crashes near this intersection in the last year and a half?
There have been 4 crashes in the last 3 years and 2 crashes within the last 1.5 years.
- Is the issue on the city’s radar?
City of Jax Traffic Engineering has evaluated this intersection within the last years and do not find any geometric condition contributing to crashes at Sunnymeade Dr and Valleyview Dr. The sight lines are clear and the stop signs are visible.
- A neighbor mentioned they were scheduled to get a "stop sign coming up" sign on the street. Can you confirm if that is a plan and if there’s been any movement with it?
We do not have a stop ahead request on record for this intersection. We will continue monitoring this intersection for any improvements.
- Another neighbor mentioned they used to see city crews paint the intersection to make drivers aware. Can you confirm?
Pavement markings such as a Stop Msg can be used to alert drivers presence of intersection where justification shows need. Typically, intersections that are not visible on approaches may have this supplement. We don’t show justification or need for pavement markings here.
- Is there any plan for rumble strips or flashing lights, anything to slow drivers down before they reach the stop sign?
Rumble strips or flashing lights are usually installed in isolated or rural communities. To maintain device compliance, flashing lights should be installed only in areas where implementation has a huge impact. In urban and suburban residential areas rumble strips add to noise level and are used to primarily reduce stop sign running. Stop sign running is not a definitive contributing factor to collisions at Valleyview and Sunnymeade Dr. Crash records show that vehicles slowed or stopped prior to accident occurrence. Failure to yield after stopping was the primary cause of collisions. We will continue monitoring this intersection for any improvements.
Webb says he’s looking at options, too. He’s considering putting boulders at the edge of the yard to keep the wrecked cars from coming close to his house with children inside.