DETROIT (WXYZ) — "It's horrible," said Alecia Jackson about the speeding and reckless driving in the neighborhood on Detroit's east side where she's lived for the last three years. And now she's ready to move. "I'm done," she said. "It's sad to say but I'm done."
Late Sunday afternoon, Jackson and her 15-year-old granddaughter were in the house, getting ready to eat when they heard a loud noise.
When the dust settled, Jackson could see that the front end of a Dodge Charger had crashed through the brick front of her home.
Jackson said she was in shock and all she could do was call 911.
When Jackson and her granddaughter walked outside, they could see that the car crashing into the house was the result of the Charger and a van colliding at the intersection of Seymour Street and Brock Avenue.
"Every summer that I've been here, there's been at least seven accidents on this corner," Jackson told 7 Action News.
In just the months of May and June alone, Detroit Police data shows officers have been called out to two blocks of Seymour Street, between Hayes and Salter Street, for nine "traffic accidents."
But what Jackson said she's witnessed aren't really accidents. They are vehicles crashing as a result of bad or reckless drivers hitting people or property.
About a year ago, Jackson said she was driving with her granddaughter in the car with her when another driver disregarded the stop sign, crashed into them and dragged them for a short distance before taking off once their vehicles separated.
"No one wants to live in a community that's terrorized by people speeding down their streets, not following the yield signs or the stop signs," said Detroit Police 2nd Deputy Chief Rudy Harper who said Chief James White's summer safety plan includes getting drivers to slow down. "It's unacceptable."
Last year the City of Detroit installed 1,200 speed bumps. This year 4,500 are expected to be installed.
Harper said the police department has assigned extra patrols in the area around Jackson's home in an effort to stop speeding drivers, but added that officers can't be everywhere so people have to take personal responsibility for how they dangerous they may driving.
"Someone could be seriously injured or killed if we're not paying attention when we're operating motor vehicles, we know this already," said Harper who sympathized with Ms. Jackson for the devastating damage done to her home.
Due to the damage done to her home, Jackson said she's had enough.
"I'm done. It's just been one thing after another," she said, adding that someone once shot her vehicle.
Ms. Jackson's home is paid for but she did not have homeowner's insurance because she couldn't afford it.
She's adamant about moving out of Detroit.
"I'm done. I'm done," she said as movers loaded the furniture that wasn't destroyed by the car into a truck. For now, Jackson said she'll be living with relatives.
A 23-year-old man who was inside the van was transported to a nearby hospital, according to Detroit Police who are still investigating the crash.
Early findings reportedly indicate the driver of the Charger is at fault. Jackson said she briefly spoke to him.
"He did apologize, but there's still extreme damage to my house," she said. "I can't stay here."
