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Family in Fear of Speeding Drivers

Posted on: Thursday, 9 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Mike Trask, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Mar. 9--The Daub family's two-story white house sits less than 10 feet off busy Moselem Springs Road in Perry Township.

In the past 12 years, speeding cars have run over the tall shrubs lining the property dozens of times, according to owners Darren J. and Robin D. Daub.

On other occasions, cars have flipped over on the winding road, the couple said.

And in December, a truck wiped out the front porch of their home at 384 Moselem Springs Road, also known as Route 662.

"You can hear them coming," Robin Daub said. "They're going 80 mph around these turns. They think it's fun."

The home is on the south side of Route 662 about a mile from Route 61.

Making matters more frightening, the Daubs recently adopted two grandchildren, who like to play on the 14-acre property.

"I'm worried about the kids," Darren Daub said. "I don't want them to get hit. I don't want to get hit. I don't want anybody to get hit."

Contacted this week, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said they would visit the location and consider adding more signs to alert motorists. The road already is marked with S-curve signs.

"We'll go out there and spot locations for chevron signs," said Joseph Rauscher, a safety engineer with the state transportation department.

Chevron signs are orange and black signs with directional arrows that line the outside of curves in a road. Rauscher said PennDOT would likely put some of those signs on both sides of the Daubs' home in the next month.

Daub said he had previously contacted Perry Township and Penn-DOT with his concerns but received no assistance until recently.

"It's a state road," said Richard A. Furnanage, Perry Township zoning officer. "The township wouldn't have anything to do with it. They'd have to get after the state."

The Daubs admit they knew the house sat dangerously close to the winding road when they purchased the property in 1994. In fact, Darren's family has owned the property since the 1970s.

"It was kind of a concern," he said. "But back then we didn't have as much traffic."

He said increased development and detours from Interstate 78 have led to more vehicles passing the home.

The Daubs said they fear a vehicle could hit their house, their trees or their grandchildren, Brett Fisher, 4, and Alannah Fisher, 1.

"The house hasn't been hit," Darren Daub said. "But I shouldn't jinx it."

The Daubs mainly just wanted some response to their concerns.

"I hope that helps," Robin Daub said of the signs suggested by Penn-DOT.

Ronald J. Young, a PennDOT spokesman, said anyone with concerns about state-maintained roads is welcome to contact him by e-mail at ronyoung@state.pa.us.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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