“She’s waiting at the red light and the light turns green, she starts going, then all of sudden this guy comes flying across in the 50 mph range and hits her,” Pressnall said.
The Burbank teen driver then hit another four cars, which were headed west on Glenoaks, he said.
The second teen driver, of North Hollywood, left the crash site but later returned, Pressnall said.
Witnesses told police that the teens stopped at a red light at Concord Street, then took off when the light turned green and headed toward Kenilworth.
The teens were arrested on suspicion of reckless driving causing injuries and were released to their parents, Pressnall said.
The driver of the Volkswagen, whom police did not identify, suffered the most injuries and may have a fractured jaw, Pressnall said.
“Thank God everybody was wearing their seat belts, so that kind of ceased a lot of the injuries,” he said.
Speeding on Glenoaks and other city streets has been a major concern for neighborhood residents, who have lobbied city officials to take steps to calm traffic flow.
Seven speed humps in neighborhoods that speeders frequent have been proposed, but a final decision by the City Council was postponed to allow the city attorney’s office to review the projects, said Jano Baghdanian, traffic and safety administrator for the city.
Public Works may install the speed humps without going to the council for approval because they were approved by the city’s Transportation and Parking Commission, he said.
Five speed humps are slated to be placed along Alameda Avenue at Glenoaks Boulevard, Bel Aire Drive and Glenwood and Kenneth roads, according to a city report.
Another two humps will be positioned on Vine Street at Pacific and Columbus avenues.
About 75% of the affected residents signed a petition to get the speed humps, Baghdanian said.
“They all have approved it, and we verified they met our speed humps installation guidelines, so we are planning to install them,” he said.
Any street improvements to get motorists to slow down is always a win for residents, said Doug Johnson, a Northwest Glendale Homeowners Assn. board member.
But those are on narrower residential streets, and Glenoaks causes the most headaches for residents because there doesn’t appear to be any way to stop speeding motorists, he said.
Glendale police have instituted helicopter patrols and targeted enforcement of the busy thoroughfare, but speeders continue to be attracted to the strip.
“They are never going to put speed bumps down Glenoaks,” Johnson said. “They can’t put speed bumps on Glenoaks. I mean, they just need police.”
