Report from Terry Heiser about the accident on May 20th at Castor Avenue and Dyre Street
Upon hearing the loud bang of the crash, I walked immediately to the site and found the following:
A beige sedan was at the stop bar on Dyre, East of Castor, facing away from the intersection. Its front end and hood were severely damaged, more so toward the passenger side, Its engine compartment was leaking fluid. The female driver and a girl about 7 years old were standing outside the sedan.
A black SUV was lying on in its driver side, facing South, on the sidewalk at 5116 Castor (second house north of Dyre). The male driver was in the SUV, and people outside it were speaking with him. Vehicle debris was scattered throughout the intersection. Tire marks from the stop bar on Dyre to the northbound traffic lane on Castor indicated that when the two vehicles collided, the sedan was turning left from westbound Dyre, to go southbound on Castor, and the SUV was traveling northbound on Castor.
A black sedan parked at 5118 Castor had substantial front end damage and the vehicle parked immediately north had front end damage. The utility pole at 5116 Castor was broken about 5 feet above the ground surface. The lower section was tilted about 30 degrees from vertical, but the upper section was still vertical. The utility pole was at risk of collapsing and bringing its overhead wires down onto the ground.
The wrought iron railing on the concrete stair at 5116 Castor was bent and knocked over. Three tow trucks were on the site. Two fire trucks, 2 emergency medical vehicles and 2 police vehicles arrived shortly. A PECO emergency vehicle arrived later.
The Fire Department poured sand on the fluid that was leaking from the sedan. The male driver was extricated from the SUV and placed in an emergency medical vehicle. The female driver and the young girl were placed in an emergency medical vehicle. All parties were ambulatory. The Fire Department secured the intersection with caution tape. The Police Department re-routed traffic away from the intersection. The tow trucks removed 
the four vehicles involved in the crash.
During the night, PECO replaced the broken utility pole. Based on the above, it appears that the following happened:
- The crash occurred in the northbound traffic lane of Castor.
- The collision shoved the sedan backward from the northbound traffic lane of Castor to the stop bar on Dyre and turned it around.
- The SUV caromed off the collision to strike the sedan parked at 5118 Castor, which in turn struck the sedan parked immediately north.
- The SUV next caromed off the sedan parked at 5118 Castor, reversed direction, struck the wrought iron railing at 5116 Castor and continued onto the sloped lawn of 5116 Castor, which caused the SUV to rollover onto its driver side and stop on the sidewalk of 5116 Castor.
- Somewhere in this sequence, the SUV struck the utility pole.
Fortunately, it appears that nobody was seriously injured. However, at least 3 of the 4 vehicles are total losses.
If there had been stop signs on Castor, this crash probably would not have happened. This madness cannot end soon enough.
A stop sign on Castor Avenue would get ran. A stop sign is not always the answer. Look no further than G St & Luzerne. The City already places too many stop signs which leads to traffic slowing down and rolling through. I’m sorry this accident happened but you don’t know the cause. You claim it’s a speedway but if the SUV was speeding there most definitely would have been serious injury to the people in the small sedan.
A stop sign must be applied based on logic and practicality. It is not a cure all for all crashes nor is it practical on Castor Avenue. Perhaps a traffic light but even then who know’s.