Got some reports from several neighbors about a hit rollover accident on Glenrose below Figueroa on Saturday night, before midnight.  We tried to get some info from CHP, which as of this morning didn't have anything on it and as of tonight hadn't returned our call.

Reader Justin writes:

Just had a Hit and Run on Glenrose (just south of Figueroa) at approx. 11:40pm Saturday night. Speeding car tried to pass another car on our very narrow street. The car clipped a parked truck and rolled 3 times (per neighbors) and came to rest upside down – drivers fled the scene immediately.  Approx. 4 other cars damaged and  at least one person taken from the scene by ambulance. Lots of police activity here tonight!

And reader Maia, who lives in the neighborhood, sent this today:

So there's nothing left to take a photo of, there is a lot of glass in the parkways of about 4 houses, there are skid marks on the street and a couple of small pieces of car trim that didn't get cleaned up. Otherwise, no knocked-down trees or fences, no smashed up cars or anything like that. Best of all, no memorial altar — I was afraid that someone had been killed in the accident. (My tenants didn't know.) 

I would have taken a photo of that general portion of the street, but with all of the parked cars gone it looks really wide and I feel would have given people the impression that there are no problems or issues. I may have some older photos looking up or down the street that show how many parked cars there usually are, I can look later if you want.

We lived on Glenrose for 21 years, and as time has gone by the traffic has gotten worse and worse, more and more cars are parked at night and on the weekends, and cars are driven faster and faster. 

Glenrose is very densely populated, many of the houses have back houses and/or converted garages, and many have multiple families living in them to save money. At night and on the weekends, the street is totally "parked up" on both sides, and pretty often desperate parkers will park across someone's driveway or double-park "just for a moment" and get people very angry. There is not enough room for 2 cars to pass each other when both sides are parked up, so there are many games of "chicken" to determine who ducks into an opening temporarily to let the other driver(s) through. The occasional 50+mph driver has really terrified me. In my non-scientific estimate, it averages about 3-4 of those per 24 hours. 

We've asked the County about speed bumps several times, but aside from the usual protest from the emergency services people, there is very little chance of anyone getting the 70% or 80% of all residents to sign a petition for bumps. Sadly, some of the worst offenders have been the Sheriffs, who use Glenrose as a Lincoln-alternative and have been observed driving in excess of 60mph to get to a call. They usually have lights on, and sometimes siren, but if one is backing out of ones driveway that's not always visible way up the street.

In addition, with cars allowed to park all the way up to the intersection at Figueroa, it's really hard for people on Fig who are turning onto Glenrose to see whether anyone's coming, and there have been many almost head-on collisions there at the corner.

Amazingly, as far as I know the only traffic fatality in the past 20 years was a neighbors dog. Considering the number of kids on the street that's pretty miraculous!