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Prince George County residents say road is accident waiting to happen

Posted at 7:28 PM, Apr 09, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-09 19:28:40-04

PRINCE GEORGE, Va. (WTVR)--The makeshift memorial on Timber Road in Prince George County is a painful reminder of the deadly accident there.

"I never thought that this would happen,” said Jodie Myers.

At first, Myers thought the crash was similar to the ones she's seen near her home in the past.

"Most of the accidents that have happened have been minor.  People run into the woods, realize what's going on or slam on the brakes,” said Myers.

But the crash Friday night was far worse.  A 17-year-old was killed after slamming into a tree.  Three other teenagers in the car were injured.

Neighbors believe that drivers miss the posted sign, warning them that there's no outlet, as they head down Timber road

"There needs to be some changes out here on this road,” said Myers.

CBS 6 took the neighbors' concerns to VDOT, the agency in charge.

"If there's a fatality, we typically will take a look at what occurred, where it occurred, what the history is to see type of improvements can be made,” said Dawn Eischen, VDOT spokesperson.

We asked how VDOT can make the road safer.

"The sign is reflective; it is a newer sign,” said Eischen.  “So, it does not need to come down.”

“But we are adding an end of the road sign to let people know how much further they can drive on that road before they're at the end of the road,” Eischen added.

Myers hopes it will end the number of crashes and prevent deadly accidents like the one that happened Friday night.

We checked in with Prince George County police to find out the number of crashes on the road. Captain Eric Young told CBS 6 that there was one reported last year.  No one was injured.  And there were none reported in 2011.

VDOT says drivers will see that new sign warning them about the Timber road in a couple of weeks.