ELYRIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — In a span of just more than 50 days, the Baus family has lost their sense of safety inside their own home along West Ridge Road in Lorain County.
Two separate car crashes ended on their property, with one colliding with their home and destroying their chimney and the other evading a makeshift barrier they put up to feel safe.
Troopers confirm to News 5 that a 27-year-old woman was taken to the hospital with serious injuries after she drove off West Ridge Road in Elyria Township a little after midnight Wednesday and ended up in front of the Baus' home.
"Generator came on so you know it’s a power outage and think nothing of it," Bryan Baus recalled. "Four minutes later, my cell phone rings, and it’s never a good thing if it rings at midnight."
It comes after the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated a 46-year-old woman who died after crashing her vehicle into the same home along West Ridge Road in Elyria Township on June 7.
Since then, Baus said he and his wife have not felt safe in her own home. They even put this dumpster in the front yard to protect them from other drivers.
After Wednesday's crash, a second dumpster was put in on the property.
"We’ve had other cars come into the yard and hit the house but never to this extent," he said. "To even think this would happen two months later, it’s beyond belief."
Before the latest crash, the couple tried and tried to get the attention of those who could make changes along this road.
"Something needs to be done," Bryan Baus said on June 7. "We have so many cars go off the road. Our mailboxes, we had to move them off the right of way because they always get taken down."
"They need some kind of sign before the curve with a flashing light," Linda Baus added that day.
News 5 met with the Lorain County Engineer's Office. Assistant County Engineer Bob Klaiber told News 5 that a guardrail could harm drivers more than help them along this stretch of road.
"The guardrail cannot become more of a hazard than what the vehicle may hit when it leaves the road," he explained. "In this case, the clear zone indicates that guard rail is not warranted."
Last time, troopers said speed and alcohol played a factor in the crash. It’s not clear yet if that’s the case this time.
"The sad thing we see in a lot of these cases is probably 90% of the time in Lorain County, these fatalities or bad accidents it’s drug or alcohol related," Klaiber explained. "That’s what worries me the most. As engineers, we can’t engineer against people using bad judgment."
However, after this latest crash, the Klaiber said they are looking at putting in curve warning signs as well as a sign suggesting people slow down on the bend.
Klaiber said those curve warning signs could be installed along West Ridge Road as soon as in just a couple of weeks.
"Only time will tell [if this helps]," Baus said. "We don’t know if it will help or not, but doing nothing, nothing will help."
