DETROIT (WXYZ) — Residents living along Evergreen between 6 Mile and 7 Mile in Detroit say dangerous drivers have turned their residential street into a speedway, blowing through red lights and putting families at risk.
Neighbors say the dangerous driving has been happening for years. About a year ago, a reckless driver slammed right into a tree along the stretch of road. One resident emailed me describing the roadway as being like the Indy 500 — and I saw firsthand why.
A Dodge with a missing bumper nearly spun out before racing up Evergreen late Monday morning, with another car following right behind it.
Edward McLaughlin, a longtime Evergreen resident, has lived just north of Curtis for nearly two decades. He says the dangerous speeding has kept him from allowing his kids to even play in the front yard.
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"That was just two of them. You'll have a litany of cars like that—it will be 6, 7, 8, 9, 10... all doing the same thing," McLaughlin said.
Marcus Lawhorn, a disabled senior and warns it's not just children at risk.
"I have to be careful when I come out. You know, it's just that dangerous," Lawhorn said. "It's ridiculous. People come down here on Evergreen doing at least about 70."
The speed limit on this stretch of Evergreen is 30 miles an hour. Daniel Hernandez moved to the neighborhood just three months ago and learned about the dangers outside his front door almost immediately.
"Just got a lot of people speeding. More than you could think. I mean, you got people speeding through the red light, people almost causing crashes," Hernandez said.
I spotted three cars run the red light at the Evergreen and Curtis crosswalk in a matter of minutes. Our camera caught another two cars doing the exact same thing.
"I've literally watched kids almost get ran over because people are speeding—because they're not paying attention," McLaughlin said.
Neighbors cannot get speed humps installed because Evergreen is an emergency route and main corridor.
While some residents want targeted enforcement to crack down on drivers, others say police can only do so much.
"We need to get more police in this area, actually. Yeah, to stop people from speeding and passing on the shoulder and stuff," Hernandez said.
"The police do patrol. We do see them pulling people over consistently, but people are still just going to press the limits. It's not the Fast and the Furious, man. This is Evergreen," McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin had a message for the reckless drivers.
"Be mindful that people live here and that they have children. It's not a freeway, it's not a highway—this is still a residential street," McLaughlin said.
We reached out to the Detroit Police Department and they said:
"We appreciate this matter being brought to our attention. We will have more of our traffic enforcement officers patrol that area. This type of driving will not be tolerated especially in an area with schools nearby.
"We will continue to be more proactive in our neighborhood patrol."
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