GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- One day after a horrific crash that killed three people, a memorial stands to honor their memory in front of Smitty's Nearly New Auto and Truck on Lombardi Avenue. Locals say speeding is far too common here.
"They whip around this corner, I mean that's all I hear is tires," said Jeffrey Morales, who lives two blocks from the crash scene. Morales insists that drivers exceed Lombardi Avenue's 35 miles per hour speed limit.
"It's shocking, but not surprising because that's the way they drive out here," Morales said of yesterday's two-car, triple-fatality accident. "It's just ridiculous."
It's a familiar spot for Green Bay Police, who saw an officer hit there by a driver with a revoked license in 2013.
"Every officer that arrived to that scene [yesterday], it's pretty eerie to think 'oh man, this again?'" Commander Kevin Warych said. "Sadly, three people lost their lives in this. Now the officer has since recovered and is doing well, but for some reason, that situation, that location on Lombardi Avenue is not new to these traffic crashes."
"I can't tell you how many times people have ended up in other people's front yards because they're just wheeling through the neighborhood," Dino Shop team lead and local resident Carrie St. Thomas said. She says employees frequently notice speeding drivers rush through the Lombardi and Ashland Avenue intersection.
Because of this tragedy, some are now asking for change to spurn out of the victims' loss of life.
"It would be nice if they could get some speed bumps put out here, and this way the kids on the next block would be a lot safer also," Morales said, who doesn't let his grandson play in the front yard in fear of other reckless drivers.
"This is a very good reminder: parents need to have these converesations with their children," Commander Warych said. "Parents need to self evaluate their own driving behavior because this crash could have been prevented."
