WASHINGTON — A car was caught on camera flying through the heart of D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood at 107 per hour, according to a resident who witnessed the 1 a.m. incident on February 3 and verified the speed through a security camera video review.
Harvard graduate student Anda Greeney has been complaining about speeding and red-light running near his apartment building at 9th and O St. NW since May 2021, but what he says happened in the early morning of Feb 3 stunned him.
"I'm looking out the window, and I see this car and it's just shoosh!" Greeney said pointing southbound on 9th St. "I pull my security cam footage, and I’m like 'okay, what was going on?'”
Based on the video, Greeney measured the distance the car traveled in exactly one second after it crossed the clear white line of a crosswalk.
The distance was 156 feet. By his calculation, that is just under 107 miles per hour.
"It makes me livid. I live here!" Greeney said. "Imagine you're biking home. Okay, green light. You just bike through the intersection. A car going 107 doesn't see you. And you're done!”
Greeney says he witnessed the car running three red lights during its high-speed pass southbound on 9th St.
In May Greeney wrote to D.C.’s Department of Transportation complaining of constant speeding and red-light running in the area and demanding action.
ANC commissioner Frank Wiggins added a letter saying lighter traffic in the evening “does not give drivers permission to drag race down our city streets.”
The Department promised a traffic safety study within 130 days.
Greeney sent the February 3 video to DCDOT the morning it happened.
Wednesday the agency emailed back saying an analysis of traffic, speed and crash data had been completed and the intersection of 9th and O St. NW “will be added to our list for rotational speed camera deployment.”
“This location is now on a list of sites that will receive a camera once one is available.” the letter said.
A DOT spokesman said the camera system should be deployed in March.
Greeney said he did not share the video with Metropolitan Police because he thinks it's too fuzzy to be of much help to law enforcement.
A recent inspection found rotting steel beams, raising safety concerns.