Lorain house hit by car for fourth time since homeowner moved there

LORAIN — When a car missed the stop sign at Reid Avenue and West 17th Street and smashed through the front porch of a single-story house Wednesday evening, homeowner Ken Daughney was agitated but far from surprised. This was not the first time a vehicle has careened off the road and into Daughney's property since he moved there about 20 years ago. Or the second. Or the third. "We're getting real tired of it," said Patricia Eno, 81, Daughney's mother. She was sitting in the living room watching TV when she heard a loud "boom" and realized that a car had struck the house for the fourth time. This time, the offender was behind the wheel of a silver Genesis sedan. The driver crashed through a ramp leading up to the porch and took out the entire porch wall, damaging a number of belongings in the process. The sound was so loud, Eno thought the car might continue into the living room. "I've never been that scared in all my life," Eno said. "I was shaking. I was shaking so bad." The home sits at an unfortunate location for safety, just beyond a curve at the offset intersection of Reid Avenue and West 17th. Daughney, 63, recognizes this and has been seeking a fix from the city. He said he has asked about a number of possible solutions including a guardrail, poles and boulders to block cars before they reach the house. "I asked them one time, after it was hit the last time, about putting a guardrail up here," he said. "They said, 'We can't do that because your main water and sewer lines are underground.'" Daughney said the city Engineering Department told him it would see what it could do, but he has not heard back. That was last winter, after the last collision. Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley, who took office in January 2020, said he was not aware of the issue but that the city would be looking into it. For Daughney, the most important thing is finding a solution that allows him and his mother to live in peace without fearing the next big crash. He said it is unbelievable how many cars run the stop sign. "If I could write out tickets for everyone that runs the stop sign, I'd probably be a millionaire," Daughney said. Lorain police could not be reached by press time for comment on the details of Wednesday evening's crash. The owner of the sedan was not driving and he was not at the scene when the crash occurred. Carissa Woytach and Bruce Bishop contributed to this report. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.