CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- “There’s no margin for error, so it's an accident waiting to happen," Dickie King explains.
That’s how the former Chesterfield supervisor feels about driving along a narrow, winding Beach Road with no shoulder.
Beach Road is where a recent crash left Renny Humphrey, a former board member who served with King, hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Humphrey was hit Sunday night crossing the street near her mom’s home.
The driver, who wasn’t charged, simply didn’t see Humphrey. She was walking across the road to dispose of a snake she had killed. Police said the man was not speeding and alcohol was not a factor.
King says all those years ago, he remembers that there were safety concerns about Beach Road. He says it led their board to make some safety changes to nearby Nash Road.
King says Beach Road also needed the added safety features
Neighbors say they know of some serious trouble spots along Beach. Travis King says he once watched in horror from his front yard a man who was taking his 9-year-old son for a ride on his motorcycle.
He says the pair T-boned a car that pulled out in front of them, and he recalls watching the man and his son fly through the air.
They both luckily ended up without serious injuries.
“The intersection of Spring Run and Beach where I live, there are a lot of accidents,” Travis King said. “I keep a first aid kit at my door because there are so many accidents there.”
CBS 6 News asked Chesterfield Police for the crash statistics of a stretch of Beach Road from the 11000 block to the 129000 block, which includes the area where Humphrey was hit.
The paper work indicated there have been a total of 52 crashes over three year period; in 2011 there were 18 crashes, in 2012 there were 15 and in 2013 police said there were 19 crashes.
“The amount of wrecks clearly indicate it’s a problem area,” Travis King said.
A problem many say they would like to see addressed, as soon as possible.
“Because she was a supervisor -- but a human being first -- and she’s lucky to be alive, I think they should take a look at it,” Dickie King said. “Most likely they will.”
CBS 6 News learned that in 2013 VDOT conducted a speed limit study to determine if the limit should be lowered from 55 miles per hour.
According to VDOT that request came in from Chesterfield County.
CBS 6 News learned that at least one person from that area has pushed the county to lower the current limit.
After a 24-hour-survey period the agency determined that there was very low pedestrian activity level on Beach Road and they didn’t deem it necessary to make any pedestrian accommodations.
VDOT also says the average speed of the drivers was below the speed limit.
For that reason, the agency says it couldn’t justify reducing the speed limit on that part of Beach Road.
