LA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) -- Four months after a car crashed into their home and RV, the Villareal family is finally getting back to normal.
"We did a lot of the cleanup in the month of May. We had construction going on. We did get the vehicles back. We did get the RV, which is wonderful," Tom Villareal said.
In the early morning hours of April 24, a car crashed into the Villareals' home and RV in the middle of the night, an incident I reported on as breaking news that morning.
"Had it been a night where we might have done our camping, which we've done camping right here in our driveway, we could have been in there and they could have killed us," Tom said.
This marks the second crash ABC 10News has reported about on this stretch of Spring Street since 2022.
In the 2022 incident, a car drove into the condo complex above Tom and Christie's home. At that time, Christie and another neighbor raised concerns about the street.
"Something has to happen because cars are always rolling over," a neighbor said following the 2022 crash.
When I caught up with Tom and Christie in May to see how they were doing, the repairs had cost them thousands of dollars, and mentally they were struggling.
"Every time I hear a bump or a boom, or any noise, I'm very jittery. I can barely go into the bedroom without looking around going what's coming down next," Christie said.
I found a 74-page report that outlines street safety across the city of La Mesa. Published in January 2024, the report was done as part of the city's Vision Zero goal. The report identified the stretch of Spring Street, from Palm Avenue to Lemon Street, as one of the most dangerous roads in the city because of the frequency and severity of crashes.
I brought the report to La Mesa City Councilmember Laura Lothian's attention. She said she didn't know about the report beforehand but wasn't surprised when Spring Street was named one of the most dangerous.
"I don't dare even take one block on Spring because I am so afraid of getting hit by someone going 80 miles an hour," Lothian said.
Immediately after the crash, the city replaced the fence and added temporary K-rails. The city also hired a consulting firm to see what safety improvements could be made. The report was recently finalized with recommendations that the city says it's planning to adopt.
Those recommendations include restriping the road to make it thinner and adding signs that warn drivers about the curve. Christie, however, feels it's not enough.
"We're a little concerned about that due to the fact of how many people really do listen to signs. Half of the accidents that have happened are in the 2 a.m. midnight of the bars closing down. So individuals that are under the influence, are they going to pay attention to a sign and are they not going to swerve over?" Christie said.
I asked for an interview with La Mesa's city manager to go over the findings and bring up Tom and Christie's concerns. The city declined an interview multiple times and sent a statement describing what they've done since the crash and the changes it's planning to make.
“Following the incident on Spring Street, the City immediately installed a K-rail protective barrier and repaired the damaged fence. A traffic engineering study was commissioned to determine whether additional safety measures were warranted. Based on the study’s findings, new signage and roadway striping have been recommended for that section of the roadway. The City will be implementing those changes soon. Additionally, we’ll continue evaluating and pursuing additional safety measures to help protect residents.”
When I texted Tom and Christie letting them know what the city said, Christie responded:
"We thank the city for what they have done so far. My husband and I would love to sit down with the city and show pictures of the repeated accidents and the city take these continual incidents seriously and protect us all."
ABC 10News is committed to following through with the Villareals' recovery and with the City of La Mesa's implementation of the new safety measures.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
