Southton Meadows residents worried about reckless drivers

SAN ANTONIO — Reckless drivers racing the streets and burning out at all hours of the night are raising safety concerns among neighbors to the south.

In February, a driver lost control and nearly hit a family walking on the sidewalk.

This is happening in the Southton Meadows neighborhood off Southton Road near I-37 on the southeast side.

A neighbor, who interviewed KENS 5 on condition of anonymity, said a previous report we broadcast Monday from a Southton Road neighborhood prompted her to contact problems on her side of the street.

Southton Road serves as a divider between the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. The Southton Meadows subdivision is part of the county, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).

At Southton Meadows, the main road runs straight through the neighborhood. There are no speed bumps, crosswalks, or flashing lights to help drivers slow down. Neighbors say it’s the perfect recipe for dangerous pastimes: street racing and reckless driving.

“It could be the middle of the day. It could be 1 a.m.,” the anonymous resident said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

The neighbor says street racing and burnouts wake families up at all hours, even on school nights.

The most recent incident, around 2:30 a.m., was captured on surveillance video.

“This neighborhood has a lot of young children. It’s kind of a newbie neighborhood,” the resident said.

Southton Meadows, a 1,077-unit neighborhood, was built three years ago.

On a good day, Southton Meadows, the main road through the subdivision, is full of people. That’s why neighbors have asked for more sheriff’s deputies on patrol.

“We just don’t see (enhanced patrol),” the neighbor said. “Our main concern is that someone will be seriously injured.”

In February, a white sedan was driving recklessly through Southton Meadows and nearly struck a pedestrian, who filmed the close encounter.

“It was near a fence near my house,” the neighbor said. “God forbid there were kids playing on the other side of that fence. Tuesday night that car was involved in a single car accident.”

The anonymous resident, who worked in law enforcement, says neighbors do everything they can to slow people down.

“Whether it’s stop signs or roundabouts,” she explained. “We were hoping for speed bumps but I guess you can’t do that because we don’t have a driveway off (the main road).”

Even flashing lights or a crosswalk would be a start, neighbors said.

The next and most crucial step, she says, is to hold drivers accountable.

“If BCSO does not respond and continues to not respond, what is their responsibility when someone is actually hurt here?”

In October, the Southton Meadows HOA contacted the county to conduct a traffic study on multi-way stops at neighborhood intersections. The study is currently underway.

Monica Ramos, a Bexar County spokeswoman, says the study should be completed by the end of June.

BCSO is reviewing KENS 5’s investigation involving more patrols and calls for service in the neighborhood. We will update this story as soon as we have a response.