Crashes have some calling for road work
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 12, 2000
A deadly accident and a string of potentially fatal accidents on Hadley Hill have Hadley volunteer firefighters calling for the winding road that traverses the slope to be straightened. A minor accident Tuesday and a four-vehicle accident around 4 p.m. Sunday are the latest in a string of accidents on a section of Morgantown Road just northeast of Gasper River Bridge, according to Russell Justice, chief of Hadley Volunteer Fire Department. It came a light rain and we had one wreck, he said of Sundays accident. Before I could get to the top of the hill to stop traffic, another car came down the road and slammed their brakes on and hit another van and a car and turned over in a ditch. Information on Tuesdays accident was not available from Kentucky State Police by press time. Vickie ONeal, a first responder for the department, said Sundays accident started when Felicia McLean, 34, of Bowling Green lost control of her 1998 Buick Regal as she descended Hadley Hill and the car left the road. Before firefighters could clear the scene, a 1993 Ford Aerostar driven by Jennifer Blair, 30, of Bowling Green and a 1995 Buick Skylark driven by Laura Meredith, 33, of Brownsville collided. Merediths car then struck Blairs car and firefighter Bryan Hymers parked 1991 Chevy pickup before flipping upside down. Meredith and her son, Glendon Meredith, 14, of Brownsville, who was a passenger in his mothers car, were injured but declined medical treatment at the scene. On Monday, Laura Meredith was treated by a physician for a bruised abdomen, shoulder and neck, she said. I could not stop for nothing, she said. I know I couldnt have been going over 30 mph, at the most. It was just like I was on a sheet of ice. Blair also declined medical treatment at the scene but was treated by a physician Monday for strained muscles. Were thankful to be alive, she said. McLean, who also suffered minor injuries in the accident but declined medical treatment at the scene, said something needs to be done. It concerns me that something that dangerous is not being fixed, she said. It is very slick. Justice agreed. Its just luck that nobody got hurt worse than they did, he said. Every time it rains, were out there on that hill. Of course, the state has promised theyre going to put an anti-skid surface on the hill, but I dont know how much good its going to do. It seems like theres going to have to be a big disaster before the state department straightens out this curve. ONeal said 90 percent of the fire departments calls stem from Hadley Hill. Perhaps the worst came June 23, when Eric Young, 20, of Morgantown was killed in a head-on collision. Youngs is the only death recorded on the hill during the past five years. Chuck Phillips, branch manager for the state highway department, said the department started taking bids Aug. 25 for the anti-skid project, which is expected to be completed by Oct. 31.Theres no miracle cure to this, Phillips said. The bottom line is, when it rains, people need to slow down. That curve is signed for 20 mph. This should help. But warning signs arent an answer to Hadley Hills tragedies, ONeal said. Im telling you, walk across it with a pair of tennis shoes on and youre going to slide, she said. You could run a junk yard from all the car parts on that hillside. I think something needs to be done before a child gets killed.