LORAIN – Two cars were totaled after a man reportedly skipped a stop sign and hit another vehicle July 23 on West 32nd Street and Broadway, police said. According to Lorain police Officer Robert Hargreaves, Bryan Neiding, 20 of Elyria, was traveling west in his Ford Focus on West 32nd Street when he struck the Ford Taurus that Richard Summers, 78 of Lorain, was driving, who was traveling north on Broadway. Police and the fire department were called to the scene at 12:25 p.m. Hargreaves said witnesses saw Neiding failed to stop at the stop sign and hit Summers’ car, causing it to skid into a tree, lawn and a pile of dirt in the private parking lot of Gluvna Shimo Hromada Funeral Chapel. Neiding’s vehicle skidded onto the sidewalk, the officer said.
Hargreaves said Neiding may have been texting. ‘He didn’t even bother to stop,’ Summers said of Neiding. ‘I don’t know what he was thinking. I jammed the brakes, but it was too late.’ Summers’ windshield was shattered, with both drivers’ front ends and bumpers completely damaged. The cars were towed from the scene. No one was transported to the hospital; however, Neiding spoke of body pains on the scene. ‘I’m just glad he’s safe,’ Neiding said of Summers. Summers said he was wearing his seatbelt during the crash and his airbag stopped him from slamming into the wheel of his 8-year-old Taurus. ‘This wasn’t how I was envisioning my day,’ he said. Neiding was cited for obedience to traffic control device (stop sign) and failure to yield right of way.
