Halifax’s Young Avenue is well known for its upscale, elegant homes, but some residents say drag racing has been a real problem on their street for decades.
Saroj Sharma says she has been concerned about excessive speed on Young Avenue since she moved to the street 23 years ago.
“Especially people coming from Point Pleasant Park, in the evening, it seems like they own the road,” says Sharma.
Police say a 33-year-old motorcycle driver was racing a small white car at a high speed on Young Avenue Tuesday evening when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. His female passenger wasn’t injured.
“It was just a matter of time,” says Sharma.
Cher Bailly’s family lives just a block down from Sharma. She says a motorcycle crashed on her front lawn a few years ago.
"He was doing wheelies and spun out of control and landed on our front yard,” says Bailly.
“I was out with my two young kids and we helped him. We cleaned him up. I asked him if he wanted us to call an ambulance and I went inside to get something and his friends came, took the motorcycle and him and left.”
A few years ago, residents successfully lobbied to have nearby Point Pleasant Park closed to traffic earlier, but they say it hasn’t helped.
Halifax Regional Police say most traffic infractions on Young Avenue are not speed offences, but are typically for running the stop sign at Young Avenue and Inglis Street.
"I should say though, we do receive more than our fair share of complaints from this area,” says Sgt. David Reynolds of the Halifax Regional Police.
Bailly says she is worried something more serious than a traffic infraction will be what finally draws attention to the problem.
“My fear is someone is going to get killed, or very badly hurt and that is going to bring to light the problem in our community,” says Bailly.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jayson Baxter
