On Monday, a home security camera caught yet another car losing control on Kenwood Avenue and tearing across Krista Cantafio’s front lawn. It was the ninth time in roughly two years that a vehicle had blown through that tight Catonsville curve and landed on her property. The latest video shows the car hopping the curb and sliding to a stop just yards from her house. Cantafio told reporters this one felt closer than any of the previous crashes, and neighbors say the stretch has become a chronic hazard. She says she is exhausted from constantly fixing the fallout on her own.
Cantafio told CBS Baltimore she has had to replace mailboxes, stack rocks, and set out traffic cones to protect her yard, and even show up in court after some of the wrecks. Several crashes have taken out trees and ripped up landscaping. "I'm just tired of cleaning up crashes," she told the station after the footage aired.
County Opens New Safety Review
Baltimore County’s Department of Public Works and Transportation says it is launching a fresh traffic safety assessment of the Kenwood Avenue bend, with staff set to analyze crash history, traffic counts and speed data. County spokespeople told local outlets the review should take about four to six weeks. The department had previously tried to tame the curve by adding pavement markings, refreshing rumble strips in June 2025, and installing short dashed "puppy track" markings as part of earlier work in the corridor, according to WMAR‑2 News.
Resident Pushes For Stronger Fixes
Cantafio says those rumble strips are not cutting it and wants more aggressive measures, such as speed humps, a raised curb or a guardrail that would stop cars before they reach her lawn. Reporting notes that she has contacted elected officials and that Congressman Kweisi Mfume’s office has been in touch. She has also received updates from county crews about what might come next, according to CBS Baltimore.
What Engineers Typically Consider
Federal Highway Administration guidance outlines standard countermeasures for problem curves, including chevron signs, high-friction pavement treatments, enhanced markings, and rumble strips. The agency recommends these relatively low-cost tools as part of a site diagnosis when crashes keep clustering at a particular bend. Rumble strips and targeted pavement markings are often among the first options transportation departments evaluate in a safety review, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
County officials say they plan to circle back with Cantafio once the new assessment is complete. Local reporting notes that moving a location into the formal Traffic Calming Program requires additional data collection and neighborhood petitioning, steps that can slow the process. Cantafio and her neighbors say they are hoping this review finally leads to a permanent fix before someone is seriously hurt.
