Tuesday, August 30, 2005
GIRARD -- City police are investigating a one-car accident that killed a Warren man Sunday morning.
Frank Spritzer, 40, was driving toward Youngstown on North State Street at about 8:35 a.m. when he lost control of his 1996 Oldsmobile and hit a telephone pole, said Police Chief Frank Bigowsky.
Bigowsky said Spritzer was traveling about 70 miles per hour -- twice the legal speed limit -- and passing cars left of the road center before he lost control of the car.
Bigowsky said Spritzer's driver's license, at the time of the accident, was under suspension for past driving violations.
The last fatal accident in the city was in December 2004.
Bigowsky said the city does have a problem with speeders and does not have enough officers to catch all the violators.
Officials hope a newly installed camera system will work to prevent these types of accidents.
"The traffic camera is going to do the same thing an officer on the road would do," the chief said. "Ninety percent of people see an officer and they are going to slow down."
Bigowsky said he is hopeful that the city will be able to hire more officers in the near future.