Video Shows Driver Speed In Tulsa Neighborhood, Crash Into Truck

A Tulsa father gets video of a driver slamming into a parked car and narrowly missing a group of children. He told News On 6 that one driver is costing him money, but said others could cost someone their life. He says drivers ignore the speed limit and put children in danger.

Speeding in his neighborhood, especially around a corner, is such a problem that Jeremiah Edwards has put up railroad ties, in hopes of keeping cars out of his yard. But even those weren't enough to keep a car from crashing into his yard and truck.

All it took was one split second to raise Edwards' worries to a whole new level.

"It's got me feeling sick about it," Edwards said. "Main fear is my daughter being out here in the front yard, all the kids out here in the front yard."

Edwards said preschoolers from the neighborhood were playing on the other side of his pickup Friday, when a car came speeding around his corner, then, tore through his front yard, came to a crashing halt.

"If my truck wouldn't have been there, they probably would have hit those kids," Edwards said.

The video shows four passengers bail out, then, the driver backs up, almost hitting one them. It takes several minutes, but eventually, video shows a neighbor reach in to pull a little boy from the backseat.

"The adults that were in the car, no one really had any care for the kid, he was still in the back seat screaming up a storm," said Edwards.

The driver is in jail, facing a list of charges including, child endangerment, DUI and driving without a license and insurance. Edwards said he's out about $4,500, what he said it will cost to fix his truck.

But Edwards said that doesn't solve his problem. He said there are many other careless drivers speeding through his neighborhood.

"These cars come around the corner fast enough to where you can hear the tires squealing. That's too fast. That's way too fast," he said.

He hopes the video is a step toward getting speed bumps on his street.

The city says before that can happen, traffic engineers must first make sure the streets, curbs and gutters are up to code.

Then, the city would need to do a traffic count to make sure at least 600 vehicles drive the street on a daily basis. After that, residents would have to start a petition drive, they'd need to get 67 percent of their neighbors to agree that those speed bumps, or humps, were vital to the neighborhood.

"Driving that fast, it's ridiculous. If you're gonna drive fast, get on the highway," Edwards said.

He said there are only two ways to get in and out of his neighborhood, one is on his street, and the other is about five blocks away. And on that street, the city did install speed humps.

It costs the city between $3,000 and $5,500 to install speed humps, which includes striping and signage, the city said.

Since November of 2012, the city said it has installed 20 speed humps. Right now, the city said it has 11 speed humps that have been designed and are awaiting construction.

Residents with street concerns can call the Customer Care Center 918-596-2100. The city said before traffic engineers will inspect a street, an application for speed hump installation must be submitted.

In the meantime you can order "Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25" yard signs from the city.