Nightmare on York Boulevard
Fatal Car Crash at Troy's. Photo by SilverLaker via Twitpic.
Imagine it is 4 O’Clock on a Saturday afternoon and you’re sitting with your family in a booth at the local greasy spoon, in this case, Troy’s Burgers on the corner of York Boulevard and Armadale Avenue in Highland Park. One second you’re grubbing on one of Troy’s tasty burgers, the next second a car has crashed through the wall, killing you or your family member.
That is what happened to the Peña family at on Saturday afternoon when a male driver in his early 20′s lost control of his Nissan and drove it through the wall of Troy’s, killing 52-year-old Martha Peña of Highland Park.
On Sunday morning there was much talk around Highland Park about the crash at Troy’s. Many not realizing the severity of the tragedy. -Joking about the car “Missing the drive through,” or how “Dangerous fast food is,” not realizing the lives of the Peña family and the driver will be forever altered from this tragedy.
The driver passed a field sobriety test, and as of this post, police have no reason to arrest the driver for any crime. That said, this accident should be a reminder to all drivers the need to put down their phones and pay attention to their driving. As seen in the following videos, it only takes a second to lose control of your car and end the lives of innocent people.
Sincerest condolences to the Peña family.
(These videos are only to illustrate the severity of the crash.Warning, the footage is disturbing.)
So sad, and right around the Holidays.
This is hardly a new thing in 90042 and 90065, and it pisses me off every time I see another car smashed into a local store, human, or another vehicle. There was the car that smashed in Swork back in 2006 – a story which later became a polemic against $15,000 city-installed bollards, or a funny joke, and not about unsafe road conditions.
http://blogging.la/2006/10/17/swork-gets-pwnd-by-minivan/
I photographed a similar crash in 2006, on the corner of N. Figueroa St and Avenue 54. You can see the images here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ubrayj02/5221497994/in/set-72157625375712769/
Just a few months ago, a drunk slammed their car into the Atacor restaurant located on N. Figueroa right by the intersection with Avenue 37. This happened in the same location that, just a short while ago, a young man on a motorcycle was nearly killed by a pickup truck driver turning left in front of him.
Every time there is an article about “scofflaw” cyclists and “jaywalking” pedestrians, I wonder what sort of crazy pills I have to take to be blind to the raw damage, death, and destruction we mete out on ourselves daily because of a transportation system so over-designed for automobile use.
We need a city (and especially a DOT) that puts the safety of all users first, and not third or fourth behind car speed and car volume.
This is so sad. It hits close to home, literally. about 4 years ago a high speed chase begining in Pasadena ended up in a car smashing through the little grocery store directly in front of my house on Aldama and 57. No one was killed, but the driver lost his leg. It was horrible! The poor girl working inside was pinned to the wall, the car came right at her. Crazy! How would have this been handled if someone had died. High speed chases are protected, and aren’t subject to any responsobility for casualties.
That’s sickening. He went through a bus stop to hit that corner as well. He would have had to have crossed over the centerline and hopped the curb.
Actually, looking at the area, it’s tragic that the wheelchair ramped curb probably allowed the car to hit the building at full speed.
The news said he was coming south from Armadale — how did he pick up so much speed in the intersection?
I just found some other footage that show the home of the family, and a picture of the victim. This is so sad, I have bought things at that family’s garage sale in the past. I recognize the house, and I recognize the woman. So sad.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7815516
this is high speed intersection.so sad moment.