‘Accidents weekly’: Residents on Rainier Ave S fear for safety after influx of crashes into homes

SEATTLE — Rainier Avenue South continues to create chaos for homeowners who live along the roadway.

Neighbors tell KIRO 7 drivers have constantly been crashing into houses, cars and properties for years.

“None of the speed limits are respected people treated as a, as a speedway roadway,” said homeowner Cindy Sell.

Sell has lived along Rainier Avenue South for 28 years and says the problems are only getting worse.

“There’s accidents weekly, weekly. All times the day so it’s not just an evening issue,” Sell said.

Neighbors say the constant crashes are costing them lots of money, along with their sense of safety.

“We’ve had three cars totaled we had a car come crashed through the fence and our roof of our house,” said resident Kat Sims.

Over the 13 years Sims has lived here, she says the rate of these collisions hasn’t slowed down.

“Nobody has been spared. I can tell you family after family have not just had one car hit, or their house hit, or their garage hit once, but multiple times over and over and over again,” Sims said.

Madelyn Jung’s home is a prime example of just how bad it’s been. She says it’s already happened three times this year.

On Sunday, she woke up to a car flipped onto her home after it dove down the embankment and onto her deck.

“You wake up and you hear the sounds and you don’t know where they come from. And you know crashes have a particular noise that kinda just wakes you up and you just know,” Jung explained.

In early July, Jung says another car collided with a telephone pole right outside her garage.

In January, a car crashed into a massive boulder by the street meant to protect Jung’s home.

“I said where is the boulder? And it wasn’t until the cops shined the light on the window and I said oh my god it’s in the bedroom,” said Jung.

Seven months later, the giant boulder still sits in her room with the damages scattered across the floor.

“The time, the money, I mean, I have no idea what all this is going to cost. I have not gotten an estimation from the insurance company at all so when I get that is compounded with the second one the third one that has happened, they may cancel me,” Jung added.

For Jung, and many other neighbors, they’re left to pick up the pieces.

“Our insurance premiums are going up. People are being injured. These are basic safety traffic loss that are not being enforced,” said Sims.

Neighbors told KIRO 7 that drivers go well above the 25 mph speed limit and use the center lane as a passing lane.

Residents are calling on the city, SDOT and police to add speed bumps, speed cameras, barriers or more patrols before anyone gets seriously hurt.

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