South City Confessions: Another Ted Drewes vehicular tragedy reflects lazy safety efforts from city
A project to install safety measures around the famous custard shop should have started in June.
If you live in the south city end of St. Louis or ever drove down Chippewa Street, it’s hard to miss Ted Drewes. The custard staple has delivered sweet treats to St. Louis Hills residents for decades, bringing the promise of a hot fudge sundae or concrete concoction to ease the burn of the world’s problems. It shouldn’t be an area where families don’t feel safe and risk being ran over by a car.
That’s what occurred Sunday night as a car, driven by a teenager, plowed into the east lot area of the establishment, where cars, Christmas trees, and crowds of people packed a parking lot. At least six people were struck and injured, with one of them suffering a critical but non-life threatening injury to their head. The teen driver initially fled the scene before returning at his parents’ insistence. I can imagine being scared shitless by a crowd of angry people who met your vehicle up close and personal, but what made the kid swerve into the lot in the first place?
The biggest question in a haystack of chaos is the exact reasoning for the car leaving the road and hitting the lot full of people, but the blame is going to climb higher. The city deserves a big chunk of blame for this. The accident that took place Sunday is the latest in a string of collisions outside Ted Drewes.
The drivers out there treat a 35 mph speed limit like the goal is 50 mph, and that doesn’t include the aggressive lane-changing and double down of cell phone usage. There’s a chance that the driver was on his phone needlessly scrolling before realizing someone was stopping or slowing down, and then moving onto the sidewalk abruptly. According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, safety measures and structures that were supposed to begin construction last summer are still absent.
Mayor Tishaura Jones can breathe into a podium all she wants about making this city a safer place, but she is failing terribly at that job. The crime rate still hasn’t gone down far enough. Stupid accidents occur due to unenforced traffic laws, and the cops are overwhelmed by the activity. What happened to all of that Rams settlement money that was supposed to go into the city? What about the $300,000 that aldermen around the city have to improve safety?
Hey Mrs. Jones, I’m not feeling your aura when it comes to protecting the city I grew up in and love. If those safety protocols had begun in June, they would already be completed. Perhaps innocent people wanting to go out and support local businesses wouldn’t have gotten plowed into and reportedly ran over if they were finished. There’s nothing more cruel in city or national politics than rugged laziness on safety issues.
If you want to protect schools, put multiple armed personnel outside of them.
If you want to protect citizens, install the safety structures that protect their future.
If you want to be a fucking Mayor, do your fucking job.
With no offense to Jones, she sucks as mayor. Ask the people who cover the scene, or ask the ones who merely pay taxes. She doesn’t know how to get things done and she doesn’t have the power or will to change stagnant ideals. What if we told the politicians in this city that their paychecks would be lighter if more innocent people died due to their laziness?
A few summers ago, an old man was killed by a speeding car crossing Chippewa. The next year, a teenager was struck and killed crossing the same street. This week, days before Christmas, six or more families have their holiday plans altered by a careless driver.
Here’s the thing that local news stations and commentary writers won’t be able to tell you: the bad drivers aren’t going to decrease, because the law-enforcers and courts can’t keep up with them. The rule-makers and leaders of this city need to do their best to stay with the crazy drivers, putting safety barriers (CONCRETE, not a guard rail) and other protective devices on popular spots. Eventually, they’ll be everywhere.
The Post Dispatch reported that those summer construction plans around Ted Drewes will begin in January, but don’t hold your breath. If the Mayor and company do their job, people can begin to feel safe in the city even when getting some frozen custard.