After hit-and-run, neighbors say stretch of State Road 19 needs work

April 17, 2011|By Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

Since last June there have been three pedestrian accidents on the same stretch of State Road 19. In the latest case, an Elkhart man was left in critical condition after a hit-and-run.

Neighbors say if the road was improved, it could prevent further accidents.

“Everybody knows about it,” said Phil Hesch. “You can just see them whipping around here. It’s bad news."

Hesch lives near the stretch of road, which is just south of North Shore Drive near Simonton Lake. He says it has an odd curve and rise to it that sometimes makes it hard for drivers or pedestrians to see traffic, day or night.

“Makes it just almost impossible to get across the highway at times, especially if someone is going a little too fast around the corner,” Hesch said. “There are places where you don't see the traffic until its right on top of you."

Others from the area who WSBT talked to said that has been their assessment as well, and agree that sometimes traffic does indeed move too fast through the area.

This past Saturday an Elkhart man was walking across the road in that area at about 1:30 in the morning.

“There was a black pickup truck that was heading southbound [and it] actually struck and hit and seriously injured a pedestrian named James Armour Jr." said Captain Jim Bradberry with Elkhart County police.

Police say the driver fled the scene in a black pickup truck with a broken headlight and front-end damage.

The county's crash reconstruction team was called in on the case and gathered evidence at the scene.

“And with that evidence you can take that and hopefully piece together vehicles, maybe a better description or make of that truck,” Bradberry said.

Some are hoping with this latest incident that something can be done about the road itself.

“It’s a dangerous situation,” Hesch said. “If something is not done about it, you are going to continue to see accidents.”

Police also say this stretch of S.R. 19 is a particularly dangerous road in Elkhart County. Just last month, Lana Whitehead was walking across the road in the same area and was hit by a passing vehicle.

That car also took off.

She suffered several cuts on her face.

And then last July, 52-year-old Wanda Luther was killed by a driver on the same stretch of road while she was walking in the middle of it.

“Well it sure draws our attention to this area that within a short period of time this year we have had two similar types of crashes,” Bradberry said.

Police are now looking more closely at that area to figure out what is causing these problems.

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