Residents of Taft Avenue in El Cajon express their concerns about speeding drivers and have long fought to prevent crashes around their neighborhood.
“He hit this first dip, and then it sparks… then he hit the second dip, and then he went up onto the curb here…and took out three of her cars and just totaled them,” resident Barbie Bates said.
It is a stop sign, which the City of El Cajon said could not be installed because one of the roads at the four-way intersection is a dead end.
“20 years. I've tried to get it 20 years ago when my daughter was still young,” said Bates.
But 20 years later, those living on Taft Ave. are still trying to prevent crashes like this.
“Instead of getting to prep for my daughter's birthday, I'm having to, like, pick glass out of the gravel so that kids can play,” said Jessica Johnson.
Jessica Johnson says the car that drove into her front yard could have easily hit one of her kids any other night.
Neighbors formed a petition to get speed bumps put on the road. El Cajon City councilmember Phil Ortiz said this is the first type of neighborhood petition the City has seen related to bumps and speeding.
The City of El Cajon said that since 2017, there have been four crashes in that area.
The city manager also says speed bumps can be a nuisance for emergency response vehicles, so they will start by installing two-way stop signs at the intersection.
According to the City manager, the two-way stop sign will be installed in "a short while."
"But we're worried that a stop sign might not stop people because they're running the only one that we have on the corner,” said Bates.
Traffic data will be collected within the next few months to see if speed bumps will be beneficial.
“I just want to be able to, like, walk down the street and have my kids play out front without being worried that they're gonna get smashed by a car,” said Johnson.
