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Neighbors concerned after 6 crashes along curvy stretch of road
The Florida Highway Patrol tells FOX 35 News that speed played a factor in a single-vehicle crash in Windermere on Monday.
WINDERMERE, Fla. - Barricades and cones lined the side of Mckinnon Road near Watermere Lane in Windemere on Tuesday, erected some 24 hours earlier after a car crashed into a fire hydrant, causing a huge mess.
This incident only increases the worry of nearby homeowners.
"I looked over to the side of my house and saw literally like a river flowing," said Tiffany Hernandez.
She immediately called her neighbor Beth Andrus.
"She lost control of the car and went right in and hit the fire hydrant, which hit a mainline," Andrus said.
Soon the heavy flow of water from the damaged fire hydrant caused the Earth below the car to give way and the car to sink. Emergency crews shut the road down as the water flowed across both traffic lanes.
"This is exactly why you shouldn’t speed around the corner," a man could be heard saying on home video that Hernandez and Andrus shared with FOX 35.
The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) tells FOX 35 News that speed played a factor in Monday night’s single-vehicle crash.
Andrus and Hernandez pulled out their phones and showed FOX 35 why they’ve had enough of accidents like Monday’s.
"We’re always looking over our shoulders just because you never know what’s going to happen," Hernandez said. "I’m afraid to even go to my mailbox."
She explained that a driver knocked it over and never stopped. That's not even included in the six single-vehicle crashes in 18 months along the curvy stretch of road they live along.
Last Friday, authorities said the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta lost control and hit a tree in one of their neighbor’s front lawns a few doors down. A few months back, the driver of a silver sedan hit a power pole, according to the FHP.
"Had a car crash here where the driver took off," Hernandez said.
The impact was so severe Hernandez tells FOX 35 News that her house shook. When they got outside to check on the driver, the car was there but whoever was behind the wheel was gone.
From January 2020, the women shared pictures of a Lamborghini that took out two power polls in Andrus’ front yard.
"That knocked the power out," Andrus said. It also took down some power lines with it.
"They fell onto our driveway, onto all of our cars. We were afraid to come out of our house," Hernandez said.
The speed limit along the curvy stretch is 45 mph. The suggested speed limit is 25 mph.
"They need to change the speed limit and honestly, I would love speed bumps. These people speed way too fast along the corner," the two women said.
Hernandez called the county and voiced her concern after the crash where the driver left his car behind and the incident with the Lamborghini. She showed FOX 35 News the yellow "hidden driveways" sign the county put up afterward. She says the two single-vehicle crashes this week are enough to prove that it’s not enough.
"Maybe you reporting this will get some attention from the county since we already put calls into the county after the Lambo incident and nothing happened," Andrus said.
FOX 35 News reached out to Orange County. The spokesperson tells us they will look into the matter with their roads engineering department.
A Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson tells FOX 35 News they will bring this up at their next traffic safety meeting.
Stay tuned to FOX 35 News for any updates.
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