Car Ends Up in the Middle of Grant Circle Last Night

Columns

by Prince Of Petworth August 10, 2015 at 10:15 am 12 Comments

cgc

Thanks to a reader for tweeting us around 10:45pm last night. MPD says this was “a traffic accident only. There was no crime committed.”

Evan

Umm…no crime, just an “accident.” I don’t see how you end up in the middle of the circle without driving at least somewhat recklessly. Just shows what a low priority MPD puts on actually enforcing traffic laws.
neighbor

First of all, how was one crime committed if the car ended up in the middle of the circle? I’m guessing there is a DUI involved here?
.
Second, we live on Illinois and saw three park police cars tearing around Sherman circle and down Illinois at over 50mph. With their sirens off. If no crime was committed why was park police treating our neighborhood like I-95? Too busy busting volleyball players? Seriously though, if this is just a traffic accident don’t endanger our neighbors.
madmonk28

When we first moved to Petworth, Grant Circle didn’t have lights (or they weren’t lighting them, I can’t remember). My wife and I were walking our dog there when a car came down NH and plowed right into the circle. The curb tore his oil pan off and it was totaled. He reeked of booze.
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah, it’s hard to imagine that happening without 1) excessive speed, or 2) booze.
dat

I know it’s been said before, but we need stop signs at the entrances to Grant Circle, like Sherman Circle. We also need better crosswalks and implementation of the proposed traffic flow control measures.
- Guillermo Brown
  
  You (and all interested Grant Circle neighbors) should make sure a police report was filed. It was recently uncovered by residents near the intersection of Kansas Ave and Quincy St that when MPD does not file a report, DDOT does not receive any notice of the incident. In that case, DDOT’s traffic “accident” statistics (or whatever hyper-PC word we’re using now) would not rise to the level warranting additional traffic control measures.
The OP Anon

I saw an old lady drive north against the one way only at 17th Street, next to the police station at U Street, on Saturday morning. At 17th and V, a cop pulled his car in front of her to block her from driving any further. Of course, she had MD plates but honestly I think she was just lost. The cop spoke with her for about 5 minutes and released her without a citation.
.
I think many people – especially older drivers – can easily get confused by GPS directions. They interpret directions incorrectly and end up making very basic mistakes because they are paying too much attention to the small screen and not enough attention on the road signage. If it’s being treated as an accident, my guess is that there’s no DUI here.
- younger driver
  
  Sorry, but if you’re so confused you drive the wrong way down a one way street you should be (a) cited and (b) have your license revoked. We all feel bad for older people with mobility issues, but endangering other peoples lives is not the answer.
  - Blithe
    
    Don’t underestimate the power of an increasingly insistent GPS voice stridently proclaiming: “Turn Left HERE”. I obviously don’t know if this was a factor in this incident, but I think The OP Anon is making a good point about GPS use as a potential hazard.
HistoricGrant

How is it not a crime? All the grass and the bushes are destroyed
SeventhStreet

I was talking to a police officer about the bad drivers in Petworth just on Saturday – a hit and run driver sideswiped my car, scraping the whole length and destroying the side mirror. She was asking what I thought of the neighborhood and I said in 10 years here I’ve had no problems, except bad drivers – we’ve had several cases of people sideswiping or plowing into parked cars on our block.

I told her, you wouldn’t believe it, but people used to just not notice Grant Circle and plow into it all the time – I guess those days aren’t over!! She said they see intoxicated drivers, but more often people appear to be sober, but just really really bad drivers. Shockingly bad drivers.
- madmonk28
  
  Grant Circle gets a lot of Maryland drivers coming down NH.

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