By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — Public Safety Director Thomas Coombs said the sharp curves on Old Goddard Road are no excuse for a driver who went off-road and into a house near Pheasant Run, which had been hit by intoxicated motorists before.
“In both situations the driver of the vehicle was arrested for drunk driving,” Coombs said. “It’s a hard bend, but drunk driving can happen anywhere.”
According to police reports, a motorist veered off Old Goddard shortly before 11 p.m. Nov. 1, heading west around a sharp curve but instead smashed into the house, causing a reported $80,000 worth of damage and displacing the family.
The vehicle crashed through a privacy fence and hit the house causing damage to kitchen pipes which caused a basement flood.
Coombs said the driver — whose vehicle was inoperable after the crash — was arrested at the scene and subsequently charged with counts including operating while impaired.
The same house was struck in August 2011, also by a drunken driver. Coombs said the accident — in which no serious injuries were reported — resulted from excessive speed combined with impaired driving. The speed limit on Old Goddard is 35 mph, although residents claimed that people often do travel 50 mph or faster.
The combination has in the past caused crashes that didn’t require a sharp curve in the road.
“We’ve had intoxicated drivers drive into people’s homes before,” Coombs said.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)