SAN ANTONIO — A memorial is growing outside a home on Poplar Street where a father and teenager girl were killed minutes after celebrating the new year.
The victims were identified as Jesus Aguilar and 14-year-old Kristina Aileen Spohn. San Antonio police said they were pulling out of a driveway when a car going about 100 mph hit them.
Their car caught on fire. A 1-year-old and a 5-year-old who were also in the car survived but suffered second-degree burns to their upper body. On Thursday, SAPD arrested an 18-year-old man with a history of multiple DWI charges in the incident.
Jesse Cruz said he's seen plenty of drivers speed through his neighborhood.
"We always have bad accidents," Cruz said.
Cruz said they have asked the city to install speed bumps, but that never happened.
"There's only so much we can do, you know?" Cruz said.
Paul Berry, spokesperson for San Antonio Transportation and Capital Improvements, said they responded to neighbors' concerns in 2013 and 2018. However, under their requirements, the area isn't eligible for things like stop signs or speed bumps.
TCI conducted surveys that recorded volume and speed along Poplar Street. Berry said they found the majority of drivers go less than five miles over the 30 mph speed limit.
"If there's no justification for a speed-calming device, we can't do it in good conscience because it's taxpayer dollars," Berry said. "You don't put in traffic calming measures just to address outliers."
According to TCI, traffic-calming measures range in cost; while temporary radar speed trailers are free, speed bumps can cost up to $20,000.
Berry said neighbors who see speeding drivers should reach out to SAPD with their concerns, since they have the power to pull them over.
"When you're going at triple-digit speeds, there's nothing that can be done to slow those people down," Berry said. "That's more of a law enforcement issue."
He said they can also collect signatures from two-thirds of the neighborhood, which is the first step to bringing TCI out to the area again to conduct another survey.
KENS 5 reached out to SAPD to find out how many accidents have happened along Poplar Street in recent years. We were told no one was available for an interview.
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