Richmond neighbor narrowly escapes crash, calls for road safety
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) - After almost being hit by a car involved in a four-car crash last week, Semmes avenue neighbor Mario Brandon is calling for change. "I heard a loud boom, like boom, and I turned around, and my neighbors were hollering for me to move." Brandon said. "So I moved, and I looked at the same time, and I saw a gray car slide down Semmes Avenue past the house." Brandon said he was sitting on the porch with his neighbors at 5 p.m. on Monday Nov. 25, just minutes before the crash happened -- when he stepped out to the sidewalk to take a call. "The car missed me by maybe 30 seconds, 20 seconds," he said. Despite the close call, Brandon's instinct was to help the drivers of the cars that almost hit him. As the chapter leader of the Richmond Guardian Angels, a nonprofit organization that focuses on community safety, he jumped into action. "My instinct was to go see if everybody was alright," Brandon said. "We kicked in the window to get into that car and then took the girl out, and the other girl out, and the one that was in the back, but we couldn't get them out," he said. Firefighters soon arrived with extraction tools to help remove the other person from one of the cars. In total, five adults were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and one woman was charged with reckless driving. Urging city officials to take action, Brandon asked "What’s gonna have to happen for them to install cameras or lights here to control traffic?" In a statement to 8News, Richmond City Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch said cameras had been installed in some places around the city, but narrowing the number of lanes on Semmes Avenue would be the most effective way to prevent accidents. Brandon and the Richmond Guardian Angels have now launched a petition calling for more traffic cameras, speed bumps, and mailed tickets for violators in the area.
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) - After almost being hit by a car involved in a four-car crash last week, Semmes avenue neighbor Mario Brandon is calling for change.
"I heard a loud boom, like boom, and I turned around, and my neighbors were hollering for me to move." Brandon said. "So I moved, and I looked at the same time, and I saw a gray car slide down Semmes Avenue past the house."
Brandon said he was sitting on the porch with his neighbors at 5 p.m. on Monday Nov. 25, just minutes before the crash happened -- when he stepped out to the sidewalk to take a call.
"The car missed me by maybe 30 seconds, 20 seconds," he said.
Despite the close call, Brandon's instinct was to help the drivers of the cars that almost hit him. As the chapter leader of the Richmond Guardian Angels, a nonprofit organization that focuses on community safety, he jumped into action.
"My instinct was to go see if everybody was alright," Brandon said. "We kicked in the window to get into that car and then took the girl out, and the other girl out, and the one that was in the back, but we couldn't get them out," he said.
Firefighters soon arrived with extraction tools to help remove the other person from one of the cars. In total, five adults were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and one woman was charged with reckless driving.
Urging city officials to take action, Brandon asked "What’s gonna have to happen for them to install cameras or lights here to control traffic?"
In a statement to 8News, Richmond City Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch said cameras had been installed in some places around the city, but narrowing the number of lanes on Semmes Avenue would be the most effective way to prevent accidents.
Brandon and the Richmond Guardian Angels have now launched a petition calling for more traffic cameras, speed bumps, and mailed tickets for violators in the area.
