Friday, October 05, 2012

Serious Car Crash at Jackson and Chatelain Road, Ogden Utah

Friday October 5, 2012
This afternoon, witnesses say, a car was speeding over and down the hill northbound on Jackson Avenue in the Sullivan Hollow.  At the bottom of the hill car driven by a pregnant woman and containing her small children pulled out westbound on Chatelain and was struck by the speeding northbound vehicle.

Witnesses said that if you didn't know what happened, looking at the position of the cars when they finished moving would be very confusing.  The vehicles had been push and spun around in various directions.

The pregnant woman's vehicle was pushed over some large bushes in a yard on the southeast corner of Jackson and Chatelain.  The bushes were always precisely manicured by the home owner and now they are smashed down in the middle and will probably take several seasons to grow back.

The light pole at that location was an old tall wooden pole.  It was knocked down and under the pregnant woman's car.  Many of the poles in the neighborhood are very old and in poor condition.  One of the neighbors has a utility pole in their backyard that is rotting and splintering.  Rocky Mountain Power, the own of the pole and provider of electrical service for the area has stated that there is nothing wrong with the pole and has declined to replace it.

In a related issue with Rocky Mountain Power, in a nearby neighborhood there is a power line that goes through a home's back yard and is at slightly lower than the height of a single story roof.  It would be very tempting for children to throw stuff on it or try to climb up to it.  The home owner has stated that Rocky Mountain Power will not adjust the height of the line without significant cost to the home owner.

It is the hope of those in the neighborhood that the light post at Chatelain Road and Jackson Avenue will be replaced.  There has been several break ins in nearby areas in the last few years as well as automobile accidents and a police shoot out.  There are several streets near that area where there are no streetlights and those areas are very dangerous areas after dark.  At this time of year there is a lot more dark and it would a great safety feature to have a street light at that corner as well as other dark streets in the area.

This is not the first traffic incident on a hill leading into the Sullivan Hollow.  Recently another speeding car ran a spot sign at Jackson and Sullivan speeding down the other hill that leads into the Sullivan Hollow southbound on Jackson avenue.  The vehicle was a blue sports car.  The car crested the hill, ran the stop sign, and t-boned a grey sedan that was slowly heading Westbound on Sullivan.

After today's incident the neighborhood is left with a large stain in the street from the materials used to extinguish the fire and to clean up fluids.  There is much anyone can do about that and it is not a safety issue. On the other hand, there is a lot of glass and debris in the road and gutter just outside of the immediate strike zone.  Those that reside in this area are concerned about the safety issues this situation could create.  There are many children that play in this area and ride their bikes on that street and in those gutters.

The neighbors are working to clean it up, but are disappointed that those responsible for cleaning up the street after the crash and making the road safe for travel left this safety hazard in the neighborhood.