Neighbors want a halt to road stunts after boy smashes car into yard

After a teenage driver blew through Robert Frost's front yard on Friday, plowed through his raised garden bed and crashed into his parked Subaru, neighbors at the north end of 15th Street are gathering to combat a driving stunt called "drifting."

It's a technique most often seen in action movies such as "The Fast and the Furious," in which stunt drivers skid a car around a tight corner. It's harder than it looks.

According to a police report, that is just what Tuan M. Truong, 16, learned about 1 p.m. Friday, after he tried to slide his car around the spot near where 15th Street curves to intersect with 14th Street. Police allege Truong lost control of his vehicle, which slammed into Frost's Subaru, knocking it into the front yard.

Two passengers were in Truong's car when it skidded out of control, and he was arrested for reckless driving, hit-and-run and initiating a false police report. Police said he called to report that he'd been the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

"We didn't even know too much about it until this happened and we started talking about it," Frost said.

Near Frost's house, 15th Street curves 130 degrees from its intersection with 14th Street. The road looks like a cul-de-sac that was later connected by another road.

Frost said the curve's location is not well-marked, and well-meaning but unsuspecting drivers are sometimes caught by the tight turn, located in a residential neighborhood just north of Corvallis High School.

"People were telling us all about cars going around on two wheels at high rates of speed and sometimes not," Frost said.

The incident prompted Frost and neighbors to schedule an impromptu meeting on the sidewalk there tonight at 6. Ward 6 City Councilor Stewart Wershow was invited to the meeting. He said the neighborhood has a few options for traffic calming, including speed bumps.

Speed bumps, however, slow down emergency vehicles and must be paid for by residents. One option might be as simple as parking on the street, Wershow said.

"The issue is how do we get the behavior to stop?" Wershow said.

Matt Neznanski can be reached at 758-9518 or matt.neznanski@lee.net.