On the morning of Sept. 28, two horses were struck and killed by a vehicle driving down Cooney Lane. The horses had got out of their pasture and were wandering down the road when the accident happened. One horse was killed on impact, the other managed to make its way down the road a ways before it collapsed and was later put down.
Residents on Cooney Lane are worried that the next accident will involve a person, perhaps a child. The road, they said, is a favorite of those wanting to get where they’re going in a hurry.
“My big thing is I watch the traffic go by and they speed – and not just a little bit,” said Cooney Lane resident Donn Walls. “I see them going 80-90 mph passing other cars.”
There are no sidewalks on Cooney Lane and – for long stretches – not even anything resembling a shoulder. And, said Walls, there are hardly any patrols out there.
“I’ve called the sheriff’s office and asked them to step up patrols,” said Walls. “I told them to use an unmarked car and they can park it on my property.” So far, said Walls, he has not seen any extra patrols. A call to the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office for comment was not returned.
Walls had a horse of his own hit in July 2016 when a speeding vehicle couldn’t make a turn, drove through one Walls’ wire fences and ended up striking the horse. Walls said the horse wasn’t killed, but was injured badly.
Another Cooney Lane resident, Teresa Williams, said she, too, worries what might happen one day. She has grandchildren who visit her and said it’s too dangerous to let them play anywhere near the road.
“I’m scared to death,” she said. One of the horses that was killed on Sept. 28 collapsed in front of her house.
Walls said he routinely sees six to seven school buses a day pick up and drop off children along Cooney Lane during the school year. There is at least one day care center on Cooney Lane and bicyclists like to use the road for riding, too, he said.
Meanwhile, cars and trucks continue to put the pedal to the metal on the road.
“They know it’s not patrolled so they drive any way they want,” said Walls.
