Cape Coral neighbors aim to add speed trailers to dangerous road

Neighbors living on a dangerous road are looking for solutions to stop drivers from speeding after a nightmare became reality.

An 8-year-old boy on a scooter was hit by a driver who refused to stop Monday afternoon on the 1100 block of Northeast Ninth Street. The boy was taken to a local hospital with several injuries, but was in good condition Wednesday.

More: Child struck by car in Cape Coral, driver flees the scene

Dash-cam video appears to show Laura Ashley Wood, 30, of North Fort Myers, speeding away from the scene after hitting the boy.

Wood faces charges of hit-and-run, reckless driving and driving with a suspended or revoked license.

More: Video shows Cape Coral hit-and-run suspect evading good Samaritan

Cape Coral councilwoman Jessica Cosden lives just houses away from where the crash took place. Cosden says she doesn’t let her children play on the front yard in fear for their safety.

“As a mother it does break my heart,” Cosden said. “My kids are six and seven, it could’ve been my kids, it could’ve been any other kid on the street.”

Cosden reached out to the city and asked them to install speed trailers in the neighborhood.

The speed trailers show drivers how fast they’re going and keep track of the data.

“People don’t know they’re speeding,” Cosden said. “They’re just driving down this long cut-through street, they’re not thinking about it and they’re going maybe 40 to 45.”

The city-wide residential speed limit in Cape Coral is 30 miles per hour.

In 2015, council members voted to consider reducing those speeds to 25 miles per hour, but no action was taken since then.

“Do I think it can help? Of course it can. Every five miles that you advance speed the chances of a fatality as opposed to an injury are increased exponentially,” former councilmember Jim Burch said.

Burch believes the topic needs to be revisited.

“It could mean a life and a life is very important,” Burch said.

The Cape Coral Police Department says officers do patrol residential areas but spend a majority of time on busier roads where there’s a high number of collisions.

But neighbors are still hoping something will be done to prevent another crash from happening on their road.

The police department has the final say on whether they will install speed trailers or not. Cosden says a decision could be made over the next few days.

More: North Fort Myers woman arrested in Cape hit-and-run faces judge