Jacksonville, FL

A new weekend sport is developing on Loretto Road in Jacksonville. Wall-crashing is the new pastime for careless or impaired drivers zooming from San Jose Blvd. to St. Augustine Road on weekends. Record insurance claims for property damage must have been filed for traffic crashes on this stretch of road. Drivers are typical, or may be impaired, and they are usually speeding. Where’s a traffic ticket when you really need one?

In the five years I’ve lived here, walls and/or fences have been crashed five times. I could also add there have been quite a few fender-benders when the cars didn’t crash into a neighborhood. There have also been about half a dozen occasions where cars mowed down the ornamental trees planted in medians along Loretto Road. I’d tell you what kinds of trees they were, but they didn’t live long enough for me to identify them.

The latest crash happened at Red’s Gait. That’s a new gated community where a large horse sculpture sits at the entrance. Legend has it the horse art represents a steed beloved by the property’s previous owner. These homes are pricey, so it’s hard for me to figure out why the wall is some sort of Styrofoam-like substance with a thin brick-like covering. The fairly large homes sit on small lots, close to the road. The developer cut most of the old growth trees, so there’s nothing of substance creating a barrier for a wayward motorist. The car in the latest incident came perilously close to the house. A couple months ago, when a driver crashed his SUV through our own neighborhood fence, at least there were sturdy trees stopping his progress.

I recently received an email from the Florida Times Union, asking me what I’d like our city council to do.

I’d like to see less wall-crashing. Only the drivers have been hurt so far, but if something isn’t done, some homeowner may wake up to find an SUV in his bedroom.

Loretto Road is one of the only direct routes from San Jose Blvd. to St. Augustine Road. All I can say is city planners surely didn’t plan for the current traffic. Almost every neighborhood along this road is gated. That means one way in and out. Try driving down Loretto Road when schools are in session, around 8 a.m. Traffic is so slow you could catch up on your email or maybe patch your makeup as I have seen other drivers do when I’m taking my morning walk. And when the traffic eases up, well, there’s your opportunity to break the speed limit and crash a wall.

I’d like to see less wall-crashing. The latest example, just like the last example, happened near a school bus stop.

And I’d like to stop paying insurance premiums that help cover people who crash walls.

How’s the traffic in your neighborhood?

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