ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An innocent property owner is stuck with the bill following another crash on a street that is a hotspot for speeders. “It’s an ongoing issue. It’s not the first time I’ve had a car bang into my property. It’s about the third time just at this corner alone,” said Jimmy Harper, who owns property along Lead and Columbia.
Friday morning, a tan SUV appears to have hopped the curb before landing on another car, damaging that car and some of Harper’s property. Harper doesn’t know what led up to the crash but he does know that whoever was driving the SUV did not stick around to say sorry.
“I’m in total shock and startled by this accident. We seem to have a lot of heavy traffic in this area on lead. I’m hoping that the city traffic control will take a look at this and help us. Very unfortunate. The car was abandoned and now I’m stuck with all the damage,” said Harper.
To try and slow drivers down, about a year ago the City of Albuquerque timed all of the stoplights along Lead and Coal to match up, as long as drivers were going the 30 mph speed limit.
The city says they are planning on doing another study to see if that tactic worked, but it got delayed because of COVID-19. The city also says they’re waiting to do that study until school is back in session and people are commuting to work again, so there’s an accurate depiction of what traffic is like in the mornings and evenings.
In the meantime, the city says they will continue to work with neighborhood associations along Lead and Coal.
