By Cris Italia
The latest incident on Thursday, at around 9:30 a.m. only proves what residents have been screaming about for years. A Jeep Cherokee with a 16 year old driver, sped down the dangerous street traveling off of Skillman Avenue and Oceanside High School. Outside, the streets had been slippery, because of a morning rain. The driver claims he lost control of his vehicle then jumped the curb and overturned, sliding through two front yards.
Fortunately no one was injured. The driver was treated for minor scraps and bruises, but neighbors claim, what if he had it someone?
He didn't hit anyone, but what if he did, this has become such a dangerous street, you can't even let your kids play in front the house, said Russell Umansky. He was just 16 he shouldn't be driving.
Residents say they have become immune to such accidents, so much so that they don't even realize how fast drivers are actually going anymore. It's become an everyday thing around here, Mike Barlanti said. People speed down from both sides of the block, some try and catch the traffic lights and others are coming from the high school.
Mirrors and doors are clipped all the time, Barlanti said of the narrow two way street. The hard part is having your kids walking in front of the house, it's too dangerous for them.
Stephanie Johnston, 31, still lives on Marlborough Road even after she was hit by car when she was just 5 years old. There are accidents here all time, Johnston said. The car that hit me was speeding and I didn't see it coming. Just last week Stephanie's car was hit and a mirror is missing from her mother's car. I get upset all the time about the accident I was involved in, but we tried to make this a one way street and no one wants to help out.
As a forty year resident of Marlborough Road, Gennaro DePasquale has seen it all. His wife Diane, heard a loud sound on Thursday and looked out the window only to see the jeep screeching to a halt through her front yard. I thought the car was going to hit the house and I ran away from the window, Diane said.
Cars have hit my yard before, and one time one car even knocked down the phone pole, it's just really dangerous here, you don't know when something is going to happen, DePasquale said. It's not the first time an underage driver was involved in an accident on this block either.
Because the street is a route used by a local firehouse, the street has never been converted to a one way street. Residents say their complaints and protests have only been met with rejection. We understand that the fire trucks need to use this road, but when is this finally going to be an issue? Do we have to wait till someone is killed? Gail Umansky questioned.
I'm asking cops right now to just park on the this street and they can ticket drivers all day long, Barlanti said. We've told cops before about this street, but I've never seen any type of enforcement.
Principal Gerard Kearns of Oceanside High School was at the scene of this latest accident on Thursday. I was just glad to see that no one was hurt and that the driver was okay, Kearns said. Of the constant traffic accidents on Marlborough Road Kearns said, This is a constant issue of getting the message out to kids that speeding is not safe driving. He added that students driving recklessly can and will face disciplinary actions, such as losing their parking privileges.
Unfortunately kids are kids and they are sometimes going to make bad decisions, Kearns said. He also confirmed that the driver should have been in class at the time of the accident.
We try to reach out to the neighborhood all time, I live here and I'm a neighbor, so we want to do as much as we can, Kearns said. He has reached out to the Umanskys and the 4th Precinct. The fourth precinct assured me that Marlborough Road will receive extra attention, Kearns said.
For now Kearns encourages residents of Marlborough road to report any reckless driving. If they see anyone driving dangerously, they should take down their license plate number, and we will most certainly enforce disciplinary actions.
County legislator Jeff Toback was unavailable for comment at press time.
The driver, Steven Lucas, received several summons from police, but has not been charged or arrested. Neighbors however were enraged. Something should happen to him, I mean he was laughing about the whole thing with his friends, said Gail Umansky, the mother of two. I don't think he showed any remorse, nor did we receive even an apology. She also claimed that Lucas, who was driving alone, said he was only traveling speed the limit when he lost control. That's just impossible, there is no way a car flips at just 30 mph.
