GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A family is speaking up, and voicing their concerns after surveillance cameras captured a scary crash that happened right in front of their home, totaling one of their parked cars on the street.
Jennifer Hoye said it was around 3 p.m. Wednesday when she heard what sounded like banging on the front door of her home. Turns out, it was instead, a car sitting in her front yard, and just down the street, another car rolled over on its top.
She rushed to help the woman who had been hit, to get her out of her smoking car. Just down the street, she said other neighbors helped get a teenage driver and four other kids out of the SUV.
Surveillance video on Hoye's porch showed the dramatic incident.
According to the Grand Rapids Police Department, one SUV was traveling West on Spencer Street and didn't stop at the stop sign, hitting another SUV that was going North on Lafayette.
The car that was hit was pushed into Jennifer Hoye's front yard, and the SUV that hadn't stopped flipped several times down Spencer, and hit Hoye's Subaru that was parked down the street. It was totaled. Luckily there were only minor injuries for everyone involved.
Hoye has lived in the home at the intersection of Lafayette and Spencer since 2019, and she says that intersection, and Lafayette in general, is very dangerous. She has four young children, and she no longer lets them play outside near the intersection, instead they stay in the back yard because she sees people speeding down Lafayette every day.
The speed limit on Lafayette is 25 mph, but Hoye said she rarely sees anyone follow that.
After having an incident hit so close to home for her, Hoye said she hopes the city will look into adding a four-way stop at that intersection, or even speed bumps to help slow drivers down.
13 On Your Side has also requested traffic and accident data for that area.
The City of Grand Rapids, according to Mobile GR, they have not received any complaints about this specific intersection, but they are encouraging anyone with any traffic concerns to contact 3-1-1.
In a statement sent to 13 On Your Side, the City of Grand Rapids said the following:
"Residents seeking to make their neighborhood streets safer are encouraged to contact the City’s Mobile GR Department by calling 311 or 616-456-3000. Residents can send a request to to Mobile GR at 300 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids 49503. They can do so online at https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/Residents/Report-an-Issue/Mobile-App and also can use the GRCity311 app available for iPhone and Android."
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