By Ron Hayes
MANALAPAN — Police Chief Clay Walker has asked the state Department of Transportation to study traffic conditions at the Chillingworth curve, where two speeding drivers crashed their Bentleys in a four-day period in May.
“We've had seven crashes there in the past two years,” Walker said on May 14, the same day he wrote the DOT to request the review. “The last two were pretty intense.”
On Thursday, May 7, the southbound driver of a 2006 Bentley missed the S-curve in the 1500 block of State Road A1A, glanced off the guardrail and came to a stop in the landscaping of a private yard. The driver and four passengers suffered minor injuries. Police say the speedometer registered 100 mph, and the driver was cited with careless driving.
The following Sunday, May 11, police in South Palm Beach clocked a 2004 Bentley at 105 mph. The chase ended when the driver struck the guardrail at the same curve and fled the scene, leaving two passengers with minor injuries, including a broken arm.
Sigrud Henriksen, 49, a corporate pilot from Norway, turned himself in the next morning and has been charged with hit-and-run driving and failing to stop at a crash involving injuries.
In addition to a guardrail, the sudden curve is already marked with street reflectors, reflective arrows, lane boundaries and signs clearly noting the 25 mph speed limit.
The two crashes, coming so close together and involving Bentleys, were startling, but not the most deadly at the site.
On Jan. 8, 2008, Michael Linehan, 48, was killed when his motorcycle spun out of control on the curve. An autopsy found Linehan’s alcohol level to be .14, or almost twice the legal limit.
Walker said alcohol is also suspected in the two Bentley crashes.
“We're waiting for the toxicology results in the first crash,” he said. “We weren’t able to do a DUI test in the second because the driver fled, but based on statements there’s some probable cause.”
While alcohol seems to be a factor in many of the mishaps, Walker said he was asking the DOT to determine if any further enhancements, such as flashing lights or additional signs, might help.
“We’ll review the crash data for all of the crashes in the time frame and also review the roadway characteristics during that time,” said Barbara Kelleher, a public information director for the DOT’s district office. “In the past two years, we had a resurfacing project under way in that area, so we’ll take that into account as well.”
Such such studies usually take about a month, she said.
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