‘The sound of death’ Neighbors concerned by amount of crashes on Joel Blvd

A woman is heartbroken from witnessing crash after crash outside her Lehigh Acres home.

Katie Herrero lives on Joel Boulevard. She says it’s especially scary because her daughters will be getting their learner’s permits soon.

Close to every week the sound of screeching tires, slamming on breaks and sirens are just a part of living off of Joel Boulevard.

Herrero told WINK News that’s why she’s terrified for her daughters to get behind the wheel.

Getting your driver’s license should be exciting, but the idea of driving down Joel Boulevard clouds that rite of passage with anxiety.

“She won’t go out with me to learn to drive or anything, because she’s scared of what could happen,” said neighbor Stephen Labombard.

Metal shards, pieces of crashed cars and glass cover the road.

“You can hear the metal falling out all over Joel, and now you hear all the cars driving over the metal,” said Herrero. “Everyone treats it like a highway. Speed limits 45. We easily see cars doing 60, sometimes more, especially at night.”

With speeding comes crashes, something Herrero is tired of happening so close to home.

“I actually did have a calendar at one point where I was checking off when I would see and hear the accidents. It’s weekly,” said Herrero. “Last night, there was an accident. I noticed that Joel was shut down and they were moving everyone over onto Edward.”

This is a video from that crash monday night where a motorcyclist was killed.

“That’s like, nothing you’ll ever get used to, you know? Sitting here watching TV or spending time with the family, and all of a sudden you hear either the big crash and either no breaks or breaks and for a second and then just the sound of death,” said Labombard.

Neighbors like Herrero and Labombard are begging people to drive safely.

“Slow down, please, because people’s babies are out there, their loved ones,” said Herrero. “When they say goodbye, they’re expecting them to come home, and they don’t always come home.”

At a speed limit of 45 miles an hour, WINK clocked people going 10 miles over and faster on Tuesday night.

As a result, Kate and Stephen are asking the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to be present on the road before another person is killed.