Cars continue to crash into Dayton apartment building

DAYTON — The problem of vehicles smashing into buildings is easily illustrated at one Dayton apartment building.

The apartment building at Wayne and Wilmington Avenues has been multiple times in the last 15 years and three times in the past two years.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke to the building’s new owner and the people living there.

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The apartment building is off the road a decent distance but is also right next to two main roads where drivers come down a small hill. Too many drivers are ending up off the road and all the way into the building.

“The funny thing is we don’t even have snow and ice on the road again,” said William Lingle.

The most recent crash at this location occurred when a driver who told Dayton Police he had been on his phone, failed to control the vehicle and drove into the building at approximately 50 miles per hour, according to a spokesperson with Dayton Police Department.

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Lingle said it felt like déjà vu as a car came off the road and into the lower-level apartment.

A young woman who’d just moved in is believed to have suffered scalp lacerations, and it could have been worse.

“Luckily, it just hit in the bathroom in that apartment,” said Lingle.

Lingle said he’s lived here two years and seen three vehicles hit the apartment.

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The building’s new owner who took over in March last year put up a row of boulders to try to stop wayward vehicles, but it didn’t work.

He said he believes two factors are working against him. One, drivers are not punished severely, often receiving only a failure to control ticket. Second, he believes this intersection is poorly designed and the city is not making any effort to improve it.

News Center 7 learned that the city reconfigured this intersection in 2011. There was some rebuilding up the hill in 2018.

A spokesperson said Tuesday that “The City Of Dayton will be reviewing the intersections to see if any modifications need to be made to prevent future accidents.”

Dayton police said better driving could stop most of these problems.

“These are extremely preventable accidents and crashes, if you pay attention, slow down, and follow the rules of the road,” said Dayton Police Sgt. Gordon Cairns.

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