‘Lives are at stake’ | South Grand community fed up with reckless driving

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - The South Grand Community said they are fed up with the constant reckless driving and Friday night’s hit-and-run was the last straw.

“It was a super traumatic event for the entire community and it’s not the first time something like this has happened on South Grand,” Danni Eickenhorst said. She’s the owner of Steve’s Hotdogs on South Grand.

Just after sunset Friday, a black SUV hit and killed a man using the crosswalk at South Grand and Juniatta. The intersection is two blocks from the park where the movie “Respect” was just beginning.

“We all sat down on a park bench and were waiting for the movie to start and within about two minutes, I heard a thud,” Eickenhorst said.

She said the driver ran a red light and was driving erratically. “They actually passed [another car] and hit him and threw him in the air,” she said.

The SUV continued down Grand without stopping. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to more than 500 car crashes on South Grand and surrounding neighborhoods in 2020

“As we are standing there letting the police do their thing, a gentleman rode up on his bike and said ‘hey, I was hit by a car a day and a half ago up the road and I’m still waiting on the police to come and he showed us the marks on his body,” Eickenhorst said. “Then, another gentleman came out of King and I and said ‘I was at this exact intersection a month and a half ago and said I was in a hit-and-run by somebody who was running a red light.’”

The Community Improvement Board has been pushing for changes for years.

“We are no longer getting responses from city hall but we actually have some solutions that could help this situation,” Natasha Bahami said. She’s the board president.

They want to see things like more enforcement and a speed tracking sign. Barriers were put in so there are fewer lanes but Bahami said in some cases that makes it more dangerous.

“We are asking very loudly and now lives are at stake with the dangerousness of this South Grand corridor,” Bahami said.

News 4 has reached out to the city and is waiting to hear back.

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