Officials keeping eye on site of accidents on Perryville Road

Kathrinn Schaefer occasionally walks down to a steep ditch alongside Perryville Road just outside the Cape Girardeau city limits and freshens the wreaths, crosses and signs that line the road.

She makes sure they face the road and are not blown over by wind or passing cars in hopes passers-by will remember Cecily McAdams, a person Schaefer will never meet.

Schaefer was one of the only witnesses to the May 18 accident that killed McAdams. McAdams, 18, and Erick Faile, 21, died after McAdams lost control of her vehicle and hit several trees after rounding a curve on Perryville Road, just a few hundred yards from the city limits.

Since the accident, Schaefer, who was the first person to call 911 about the accident, has maintained contact with McAdams' family and keeps an eye on the curve that has turned into a memorial for the deceased Jackson mother.

"I heard the tire screeches and the slams," said Schaefer, who has lived at her home since 2009.

County officials also heard the same screeches and slams and have witnessed the same grieving families. That's why they're keeping a vigilant eye on the curve and taking measures to prevent serious accidents.

Members of the East County fire department assisted by the Cape Girardeau fire department extricate the driver of a vehicle that crashed into a ditch off Perryville Road at the city limits Dec. 20.

When Schaefer moved to her Boutin Drive home that overlooks Perryville Road roughly two years ago, she never thought she would see drivers suffer serious, even fatal, injuries outside her kitchen window, but she has seen just that four times. Schaefer says she has been the first person to call 911 to report three accidents on the same Perryville Road curve that claimed McAdams' and Faile's lives.

In the last year, firefighters have responded to three serious accidents at the curve, said Cape Girardeau assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider, who was on the scene of the last accident on the curve last month. In that accident, Brayton Klaus, 18, of Jackson lost control of his vehicle going around the curve and had to be extricated. He sustained serious injuries.

With a 35 mph speed limit, the curve sneaks up on drivers quickly and can be dangerous in any condition, Schaefer said. The pavement was wet when Klaus lost control of his vehicle Dec. 20 but dry when McAdams and Faile died in May.

For Schaefer, preventing wrecks on the curve, which is just north of Hanover Lutheran Church, 2949 Perryville Road, calls for a simple fix.

"I am getting kind of upset wondering who it is and when it is that anybody might put a 'slow down -- curve' sign or maybe a guardrail or anything that might just save the lives of people that might just be driving the speed limit without a cellphone and hit a slick spot," Schaefer said.

Authorities have taken notice of the accidents. Shortly after McAdams' death, the Cape Special Road District installed signs that indicate a sharp turn, district engineer Mark Philips said, noting that he is monitoring the curve for any more accidents before implementing more safety measures.

"Guardrails are not out of the realm of possibility," Philips said. "I'm keeping an eye on it."

The district currently has jurisdiction over county roads in the southeastern part of Cape Girardeau County, as well as 10 miles within Cape Girardeau city limits.

Philips said he has lived near the curve for most of his life and has only recently noticed accidents.

"They haven't been that big of a problem," Philips said. "It could be a coincidence, but I'm monitoring it."

Schaefer said she is unsure of any coincidence, as she has seen four accidents at the curve while living in her home. Of the three accidents she has called 911 about, Schaefer said all but one vehicle has fallen into the steep ditch.

Because the ditch along the southbound lane is so steep, firefighters have had trouble getting to and extricating victims, Hasheider said. In the Dec. 20 accident, the wet terrain and steepness made extricating Klaus particularly difficult, Hasheider said.

"We had a tough time getting to him because of the slick rocks," Hasheider said shortly after Klaus' extrication.

Schaefer said that when she moves out of her home sometime in the next two months, she will not miss peering out her kitchen window and seeing cars upside-down in the culvert.

"Those sounds of tires and the crashes are absolutely horrifying," she said.

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

2949 Perryville Road, Cape Girardeau MO