Erie police watching for speeders along East 38th Street in wake of two serious May wrecks

Two serious motor vehicle crashes happened five days apart in early May along one stretch of a major east-west roadway on Erie's east side.

Two motorists died in one of the crashes. Five people were injured, one critically, in the other.

At least two of the vehicles involved in those accidents were believed to have been traveling close to or over 100 mph, according to Erie Bureau of Police accident investigators.

Those bad crashes and the excessive speed involved, along with other ongoing traffic-related issues, have Erie police keeping a closer watch on the flow of traffic along East 38th Street.

Members of the Erie police Motorcycle Unit, the city police bureau's primary traffic enforcement officers, are working collectively on details involving the patrolling of East 38th Street, with an eye on catching speeders. Members of the unit, along with some additional city police officers with previous experience on the Motorcycle Unit, have already worked a few details and plan to do more in the near future, Capt. Anthony Talarico said.

Unit members issued an average of 45 traffic citations during the three to four details already completed, Talarico said.

"They were catching cars up in the 60s," he said of the speeds some of the violating motorists were clocked at.

East 38th Street is posted at 25 mph to Pine Avenue, where the speed limit then rises to 35 mph heading east into Wesleyville.

The Pennsylvania State Police have also done some traffic enforcement in the city, including in the area of East 38th Street. Over 300 traffic citations were filed by Erie police and state police between July 3 and July 12 in the court of Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro, whose area includes East 38th street, according to a review of court docket records. A number of motorists received multiple citations for various violations, according to the records.

What prompted the enforcement?

Talarico said while speeding is a problem throughout Erie, police are presently focusing their attention on East 38th Street in large part because of the two serious accidents in May.

The first occurred on the evening of May 2, when investigators said a Tesla traveling west on East 38th Street collided with a Chrysler 300 that was facing east and was turning north onto Old French Road.

Investigators said it is believed the Tesla was racing a Honda when it crashed into the Chrysler. Investigators said Thursday the Tesla was estimated to have been traveling up to 93 mph when the collision occurred.

Police reported shortly after the accident that the collision was so severe the engine and transmission of one of the vehicles was knocked 239 feet down the roadway.

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The driver of the Tesla and four people in the Chrysler were taken to the hospital. The driver of the Chrysler was critically injured, police reported.

The crash remains under investigation, investigators said Thursday.

The second accident happened on the early evening of May 7. According to investigators, a motorcycle was traveling east on East 38th Street and a Subaru was traveling north on Marion Street and was turning left to head west on East 38th Street when the two vehicles collided.

Investigators said Thursday the motorcycle was estimated to have been traveling over 100 mph when the collision occurred.

The 32-year-old Erie man driving the motorcycle was pronounced dead at the scene. The 46-year-old man who was driving the Subaru died at UPMC Hamot the next day, according to the Erie County Coroner's Office.

A passenger in the Subaru was injured in the crash, according to police.

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There have been other serious accidents along East 38th Street in recent years. They include an accident in April 2023 in which an Erie police sergeant was injured when a Dodge Durango traveling south on Old French Road reportedly went through a red light and struck the sergeant's patrol vehicle; and an October 2022 accident in which a man was killed when his vehicle left the roadway and hit a utility pole near Holland Street.

'The goal is to get people to slow down'

Talarico said the enforcement details along East 38th Street will likely continue through the summer and into the fall. Erie police have also been in contact with state police about doing some joint enforcement efforts in the city, much like the Operation Hammer traffic enforcement details state and municipal department worked together in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he said.

The combined patrols will be done in different parts of the city as well as along East 38th Street and will be conducted at different times on different days, Talarico said.

"The goal is to get people to slow down and pay attention to how fast they are going. If you are running late and we stop you, you're really going to be late," he said.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com . Follow him on X @ETNhahn

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie police watching for speeders along East 38th Street in wake of two serious May wrecks