TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, and we are kicked back, relaxing, watching “Will Trent.” And then it happens. BOOM! The undeniable sound of a crash. But we hear no screeching tires that would indicate slamming of brakes.
We pop from our comfy spots to peer out the windows. In the 9:30 pm dark of March, we see a vehicle parked in front of our house, then people walking down the middle of the street, busy Willow Street. Our eyes follow their path to a neighbor’s driveway and a smashed car. Demolished. We see no second vehicle near the crash scene.
Randy grabs his cellphone, steps outside in his slippers, phones the police. We have no idea what’s just happened, whether anyone has been injured. We know law enforcement needs to be summoned. Soon multiple squad cars arrive. We remain clueless and begin speculating as to what unfolded.
Wednesday morning I spoke with the owner of the totaled car. She was sleeping when an unknown vehicle slammed into her unoccupied car parked curbside by her house in the 400 block of Willow Street. I breathed a sigh of relief, told her how thankful I was that she was not in her car. Despite the loss of what she said was her “best” car, she also said she felt blessed.
My neighbor was remarkably calm. But also determined. She’d already begun phoning auto body repair shops and auto salvage yards in an attempt to locate the vehicle that destroyed her early 2000 Toyota Corolla. Yes, the driver left without stopping. How any vehicle managed to remain operable after totaling my neighbor’s car is beyond my comprehension. And how anyone in good conscience could leave the scene is also incomprehensible. But, hey, a driver drove away (never to be found) after striking my son as he crossed Willow Street to his bus stop in 2006.
On behalf of my neighbor, who asked if I am on Facebook (I’m not), I’m posting this information here in hopes that someone can help find the person responsible. State law requires drivers to stop following a crash. The person who parked her vehicle outside our house Tuesday evening was driving on Willow at the time of the incident and did the right thing by immediately stopping upon hearing the BOOM.
The hit-and-run vehicle is likely a large pick-up (or other) truck, probably with significant front end damage, my neighbor shared. Willow Street is a heavily-traveled arterial street in Faribault. I have to think that someone saw something that may be helpful. Perhaps a doorbell or surveillance camera will show a suspect vehicle.
Please, if you have any information, contact Faribault police at 507-334-4305. That plea goes to possible witnesses, garages, auto body repair shops, salvage yards, Willow Street residents. If someone you know is suddenly no longer driving their pick-up truck and your gut is telling you something, then do something.
My neighbor doesn’t seem the revengeful type. She just wants her losses covered. Then maybe she can sleep at night. It was disheartening to watch her Wednesday morning removing debris from the street, sweeping glass, emptying her car. She deserves justice.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Speeding on Willow Street, through my neighborhood September 2, 2026
Tags: city street, commentary, Faribault, Faribault Police Department, law enforcement, Minnesota, monitoring speed, neighborhood, residential street, speed trailer, speeding, traffic, traffic laws, traffic violation, Willow Street
FOR 42 YEARS, Randy and I have lived in the same house along an arterial street through Faribault. And in those four-plus decades, traffic volume has increased significantly due to growth on the south end of town. Speeding and crashes have also risen, based on my observations.
For example, less than a year ago a Suburban, pursued by a pick-up truck, took out the power pole by our home, crossed our front yard (almost hitting our house) and destroyed a newly-stained fence panel. Other crashes have occurred within eyesight of our home.
I don’t know the cause of most crashes. It could be inattentive/distracted/impaired driving, a medical issue, driver error, speeding… Without reading police reports, I can’t say.
But frankly, I am growing weary of all of this. The speed. The crashes. The disrespect for the Willow Street neighborhood.
Willow Street runs for 10 uninterrupted blocks from Division Street to Tenth Street through an all-residential neighborhood with one exception, an automotive repair shop in the 200 block. That’s a lengthy stretch of roadway without anything to slow down motorists. And, no, I’m not advocating for a stop sign. But something needs to change.
Those of us who live along this street deserve to be respected, to feel safe in our homes, to be seen as a neighborhood and not just a route for drivers to quickly get to their destinations.
A few days ago, the Faribault Police Department installed a temporary electronic speed monitoring trailer along the southbound side of Willow near our house per the request of City Councilman John Rowan. I’m thankful to see this in place as a speed deterrent. If that data is recorded, I’d like to see the results.
Curious as to how fast motorists were driving, I decided to observe. But before heading outside to watch numbers flash across the electronic screen, I made a small sign with two words: SLOW DOWN. I stood along the sidewalk by my house and watched, my head swiveling between oncoming southbound vehicles and the sign. Drivers could not see me and my sign until they were closing in on me and the speed trailer, meaning I did not affect their speed.
I set the parameters of only tabulating speeds of 35 mph or faster. I wanted to give drivers some grace. The speed limit is 30 mph.
I didn’t have to wait long. Within five minutes of planting my feet on the sidewalk late Monday afternoon, I observed five vehicles driving 35 (2), 36, 38 and 42 mph. One defiant driver even gunned his black pick-up truck to increase his speed when he saw me with my SLOW DOWN sign. The same happened mid Tuesday afternoon when I observed again for a short time, but did not tally speeds. The top speed, though, was 40 mph.
Between 4:30-5:15 p.m. Monday, I recorded 18 vehicles driving anywhere between 35-45 mph. I did not count the total number of vehicles driving southbound on Willow. But suffice to say that, along this busy street, traffic was steady, if not heavy.
Tuesday morning I was back on the sidewalk again with my sign at 7:40 a.m., when people are mostly driving to work and school. Within the first 10 minutes, I noted seven vehicles traveling between 35-38 mph. Thirty minutes later, when I left my post, I’d tallied 12 motorists driving too fast, most in the upper 30s. I also noticed drivers on their cellphones both days, a violation of Minnesota state law.
Based on numbers displayed on the electronic sign, I could have issued 30 warnings or citations for driving over the speed limit. But that is not my job. It belongs to law enforcement. Councilor Rowan requested extra patrols along Willow Street. I am grateful for that.
If existing traffic laws are enforced and Willow Street becomes known as a “speed trap,” that could act as an effective deterrent to speeding.
Something needs to change. Willow Street needs to be seen as the neighborhood it is, not as the thoroughfare it has become for too many drivers. People live here, walk here, bike here, try to back safely out of their driveways and cross the street here.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But education, prevention, traffic law enforcement and police presence seem logical starters.
THOUGHTS? IDEAS? Please share specifics.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling