Fear Lives Where Street Stops but Cars Don’t

Removing intoxicated drivers from Burbank streets may be the only thing that can save the two modest, one-story houses at the intersection of Buena Vista and Vanowen streets from further damage.

That was the assessment Monday of city officials analyzing an accident at the intersection last weekend. A man who police believe was intoxicated died in the Saturday night crash when his car slammed into a lane divider and catapulted him through the kitchen wall of one of the houses.

Dangerous Intersection

City officials said the intersection, situated at the end of a residential street bordered on the north by railroad tracks, has been the scene of at least five traffic deaths in the past several years.

The city has erected barriers and installed high-intensity lighting and warning signs to caution motorists traveling eastbound on Vanowen Street that they must turn where the street ends, at Buena Vista Street.

“As far as engineering goes, the city has done everything possible to protect those homes,” Sgt. Don Brown, head of the city’s traffic division, said of the two residences next to each other in the 1800 block of Buena Vista. “It amazes me how people can drive down here and just plow into that street and those houses.”

In the latest fatal crash, police said, Gary Perges, 34, of Reseda had been speeding east on Vanowen when his car struck two raised traffic diverters. The car became airborne and Perges was thrown through the windshield, smashing into the kitchen wall of the house 60 feet away. He slammed into the refrigerator and bounced back into the yard, police said.

Perges was dead at the scene. Police found 18 unopened beer cans and one open can in the car. Toxicological tests on his body were under way, a county coroner’s spokesman said.

The owner of the house, Maurice Morales, who has lived there about 1 1/2 months, said he was alone in the rear of the home when the crash occurred about 5 p.m.

“Luckily, my family was not home when this happened, but I’ve been afraid,” said Morales, who wants the city to add more barriers at the intersection.

Officials said they have no plans to do so.

Saturday’s accident was apparently the first time that a car had hit Morales’ house, but the one next door has been repeatedly battered.

“We’ve taken a lot of pains to protect that house, but it’s been hit five or six times,” said Burbank Police Chief Glen Bell. “If a driver has a clear head, they can usually negotiate that turn. But, unfortunately, when a driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs, something else happens.”

George Bullock, traffic controller for the city’s Public Works Department, added: “The only thing we haven’t done is to get drunk drivers off the road.”

Asked City to Buy House

Esther Espinoza, 51, who has lived 26 years in the house most often hit, said she has often asked the city to buy the house from her, but has been turned down.

None of the eight family members who live in the house has been injured, but Espinoza is taking no chances. Three months ago, she had a three-foot barrier put in her yard. No one has crashed into her house since, but she still would like to move.

Espinoza said the city offered several years ago to buy her house for $75,000, “but we couldn’t find another house in Burbank we could buy for that kind of money, so we’re forced to stay here.”