A need for speed hit home for one Fort Lauderdale resident when, he said, the driver of a luxury car smashed the outside of his house, then ran away, and this is hardly the first time that homes at this intersection have been hit by vehicles.
7News cameras captured extensive damage to the front end of the home James DeCrescenzo rents, Friday afternoon, days after the hit-and-run.
“There’s structural damage, not only here but down the entire side here and down the entire side there,” he said. “There’s stuff leaking.”
Thankfully, DeCrescenzo said, no one was inside the property, located on Northwest 13th Street and Seventh Avenue, at the time of Tuesday’s crash.
“It’s just really unsafe,” he said.
His next-door neighbor, Willy Phillips, said he witnessed the collision.
“This time, there was ‘boom, boom boom,’” he said.
The hit-and-run crash involved a Ford and a Jaguar. Witnesses said the driver of the Jaguar collided into the home and then fled the scene.
As of Friday night, Fort Lauderdale Police are still looking for the driver.
This is the latest crash in what residents say is an all-too-common occurrence in their neighborhood.
“In the last three years, about 12 at least,” said Phillips.
Just six months ago, DeCrescenzo said, another car slammed into his home
“I’m just trying to run a business and have a rental property, and I constantly have people crashing into your house,” he said.
Neighbors say cars don’t only speed down Northwest 13th Street, but the traffic lights at the intersection seem to be off
“It just changes too fast,” said Phillips. “It’s that light; it’s just always the same exact story.”
Within the last three years, neighbors say, all four homes at the corner of the dangerous intersection have been hit.
Now they now hope the city will do something.
“They have filed complaints, I have filed complaints,” said DeCrescenzo.
Late Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the City of Fort Lauderdale issued the following statement:
“The City is committed to making our streets safe for everyone. We regularly assess traffic conditions and implement changes to improve safety.
For this intersection, we have coordinated with Broward County on signalization improvements and have also added speed cushions on NW 7th Avenue to slow drivers to the posted speed limit of 25 mph between Sunrise Blvd. and NW 13th St.
The City has also applied for a grant through the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) for additional safety improvements. In light of this most recent crash, we are checking with the MPO on the status of our grant application and will look at additional safety measures that may be needed.”