STREET SWEEPER, CAR CRASH AT INTERSECTION

Street sweepers weren't built for speed; you've got to move slow if you want the streets swept well.

But one Cape Girardeau Public Works street sweeper was moving too slowly for a Jackson woman Aug. 1. When she tried to go around it near the intersection of Frederick and Jefferson, the sweeper made an unexpected left turn and the vehicles crashed, police said.

Tamra Carr, 36, was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital after the accident complaining of chest, head and knee injuries. The driver of the sweeper, Ronald Wayne Poe, 38, of 1609 N. Main, was apparently uninjured.

Cape Girardeau police traffic officer Sonny Kincade listed in his report mistakes by both drivers as contributing factors in the accident: Poe for making an improper left turn and Carr for improper passing.

Carr said there was "no passing involved; he was all the way over on the side of the road."

Carr said the driver of the sweeper made a sudden left turn without any indication. "He's slowly going around doing his thing, and I saw no blinkers, no nothing, or of course I wouldn't have tried to go by him," she said.

Carr said the impact was so unexpected she had no idea what hit her. "The thought never crossed my mind that it would have been the street cleaner," she said.

Cape Girardeau Public Works director Doug Leslie said this is the first accident he knows of involving one of the two city street sweepers. Leslie said the city has been using these types of vehicles for about 25 years.

Said Leslie: "In the nature of their work they have to sweep on both sides of the street and in and around parked vehicles. It's a piece of construction or maintenance equipment that has all the caution lights and warning lights. Anyone operating a vehicle around a piece of maintenance machinery needs to exercise caution."

Leslie said the sweeper travels between 7 and 10 mph. He said the vehicle regularly moves in and out of the traffic lanes in order to sweep the entire street surface.

The sweeper is being repaired, Leslie said, and should be back in service in about two weeks. He said the vehicle had some front-end and steering damage.

Poe was not reprimanded by the city for the accident. "The operator was doing his work, sweeping the streets, and the car hit the sweeper," Leslie said.