Residents In Choctaw Neighborhood Concerned Over Speeders

Folks in one Choctaw neighborhood say drivers are zipping down their street so fast they fear someone could soon be killed.

Police say they've written dozens of speeding tickets, but the fast driving continues and the residents are fed up.

Randall Cole says he's upset with fast drivers flying through his Choctaw Creek neighborhood as a shortcut from Choctaw High School.

"I get home from work, pull up, you know, let the dogs out front, get the mail, and then shortly thereafter, it's a Grand Prix," says Cole, a recently furloughed Tinker Air Force Base worker.

"High school kids after school, it becomes a race track for them just so they can cut a stop sign."

Cole's wife Katie took video of a driver speeding down their street, Redvine Road. He says they see about 20 cars going 50 miles per hour in a 25-limit zone every week day.

Linda Oldroyd says students have swung by her home so fast, they've hit her mailbox three times.

"The third incident was when a boy ran into my rocks and took the corner out of the mailbox," Oldroyd said.

Oldroyd says at their Home Owners Association meetings, they've talked about putting in speed bumps, adding stop signs and more police officers or making it a gated community.

But Choctaw City Manager Roger Nelson says Redvine Road is a public street, and the city only has 14 police officers, who can't be everywhere at once.

"I think it's going to take someone getting killed, and that almost happened with the boy who does my lawn, the kids we're racing through for lunch and almost took him out," Oldroyd said.

So until the neighbors and the city can come up with a way to better enforce the speed limit, residents say they'll be on the lookout. Cole says he most concerned about the number of little kids, who often play in the street, several with special needs.

"We were all kids once," Cole said. "We all did it, but hey, let's just be responsible and not get anybody hurt or killed."

Neighbors say their Homeowners Association is working with the City of Choctaw as well as the Police Department to work on a solution to help slow cars down.

Choctaw Police Chief Conny Clay says the speed problem has been going on for years in the area.

The city put more patrol cars out during the first week of school, and advises residents to write down tag numbers of speeders.