TOLEDO, Ohio — A car crash on Alexis Road Thursday left a 62-year-old man dead.
Witnesses to the crash said drivers speed down Alexis all the time, sometimes running right through the red light at Thetherwood Drive.
"People just need to slow down," Toledo Police Sgt. Aaron Riter said. "They need to stay off their phones. Anytime they're on their phones or speeding, that's reckless operation and that's going to contribute to more frequent accidents."
Toledo police said drivers on Alexis Road are notorious for going well over the speed limit. It's a long stretch with a lot of businesses and several points of entry from side streets.
Toledo City Councilwoman Theresa Morris said she thinks the problem goes beyond being reckless behind the wheel, and that it could be related to mental health.
"I don't think somebody wakes up and says, 'I'm going to go 100 mph down Alexis and could end up having a fatality.' I don't know what spurs somebody to do that. It's very alarming from a community standpoint," she said.
According to Morris, it's a combination of not having red-light cameras to enforce the laws along with a decreased police presence.
Riter said when the police department gets complaints about drivers speeding, more officers will patrol that area.
The department also uses some of the tools it already has available.
"Our unit has a speed trailer that we can put up that displays the speed as cars are going through there and it'll give the high range and low range. Hopefully, people would see those and slow down," Riter said.
Morris said that adding barriers, roundabouts and traffic cameras could also help deter speeding.
But, it's all in what people obey.
"We can do all that and we can look at all that, but it takes a while to get that kind of money. At the end of the day, we just need people to do what they're supposed to do," Morris said.
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