By Gary Lloyd
A former Trussville mayoral candidate wants to see more of a police presence in Carrington Lakes after 13-year-old Brayden Turner was killed in an ATV accident Sept. 21.
Scott Bradford, who lives on Ledge Circle in Carrington Lakes, near where the September accident occurred, said he sees ATVs and golf carts routinely speeding down the subdivision’s hills.
“I think (Trussville police) should patrol in there because most people in there don’t obey the laws,” said Bradford, who gained 101 votes in last year’s race for the Trussville mayor seat.
Six kids were in a four-seat Polaris off-road vehicle when Turner died. A 12-year-old girl was transported to an area hospital with what her mother reported as “road rash.”
“It’s sad that it happened,” Bradford said. “It’s really sad.”
The entrance to Carrington Lakes in Trussville
file photo
Mayor Gene Melton said Trussville police does patrol in Carrington but no unit stays there because behind the Carrington Lakes gates is private property. The city of Trussville treats the subdivision like any other except for maintaining the roads, which is paid for through homeowners’ dues.
Trussville Police Department Lt. Jeff Bridges said officers respond in Carrington Lakes just like any other place in the city.
However, traffic laws aren’t enforced by Trussville police due to the Carrington roads being privately owned. There is a city ordinance that the city can enforce, though, about driving recklessly on private property.
McKay Management, which oversees management of the Carrington Lakes Community Association, has bylaws and covenants posted on its website.
Section 9.5d of the covenants about vehicles says, “All vehicles shall be subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the Board may from time to time determine.”
McKay Management Acting Association Manager Tracy Farley provided this statement to The Trussville Tribune in an email: “The Carrington Lakes Residential Association supports and is governed by state and local laws regarding golf carts and ATVs.”
Bradford said he has complained in voicemails to McKay Management about the lack of rules on the road in Carrington.
On July 31, 2011, Hewitt-Trussville student Katie Davidson was critically injured in a golf cart accident in Carrington. Her father, Doug Davidson, said she still has “got a ways to go” but is “making progress.”
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
