Car plows into Montclair yard, and resident is sick of the crashes

By JAIMIE JULIA WINTERS
winters@montclairlocal.news

A two-car collision at the intersection of Chestnut Street and Central Avenue on Wednesday, Jan. 5, resulted in one of the cars crashing through a fence before coming to a stop in a Chestnut Street yard. 

The car came within feet of Sianne Garlick’s children's jungle gym and inches from the family’s soccer net. Garlick said the family members heard a loud bang at around 12:30 p.m., and ran outside to see a car in their side yard. 

“Luckily no one was hurt but, if my children had been playing in the yard they could have been seriously injured or killed,” Garlick said.

Montclair Police acting Lt. Terence Turner said that a preliminary investigation shows a 49-year-old woman from Montclair driving a 2021 Toyota Prius northbound on Central Avenue failed to observe the stop sign at Central Avenue and Chestnut Street. As the Prius entered the intersection, it collided with a 2017 Mazda CX3, which was traveling westbound on Chestnut Street and was operated by a 19-year-old woman from Glen Ridge, Turner said.  

The Prius mounted the north side curb on Chestnut Street, while Mazda continued into the curb and struck the fence at 136 Chestnut St., landing in the Garlick’s side yard, he said.

The intersection has stop signs on each corner for drivers on Central Avenue heading northbound and southbound. There are no stop signs at the intersection for drivers on Chestnut Street.

Garlick said she’s taken photos of four accidents since she moved in 10 years ago, one less than a year ago in February, when a snowbank stopped a car from going into her yard. But she said there have been more accidents over the years that she was not able to photograph because she was at work. 

Garlick has approached the police department asking that the intersection be made a four-way stop but was told by the police it did not meet the criteria – specifically not being the site of enough accidents, she said.

A request Thursday by Montclair Local for an accident report for the intersection over the last five years has not yet been answered by township police.

“We are two blocks from the high school and the students walk this road before and after school and at lunch time. Common sense tells us this needs a four-way stop,” Garlick said.

The driver of the Prius was issued a summons for failure to stop / yield at a right of way, Turner said. 

Both drivers refused medical attention beyond that provided by on-site emergency services, Turner said.