BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Some community members are calling for some changes following a fatal accident in Buffalo's Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
"It was a young man that was killed in his car. Hit the tree, you can see the pole that inside the tree, I don't know what the speed was but he lost his life here," said Murray Holman, Stop the Violence Coalition president.
According to Buffalo police, Rodney Cole, 50, of Buffalo, was killed when he lost control of his car speeding up Fillmore Avenue around midnight Friday. His passenger was taken to ECMC with serious injuries but has since been released. Although the accident happened overnight some residents say it could have been much worse.
"What I'm saying is, if this thruway would have been closed off there would have been no speeding coming through here. We have plenty events going on through this park and this could have happened at any time with anyone," Blocl Club president Gina Davis-Miller said.
Davis-Miller says speeding on this winding stretch of Fillmore between Best and Parade has been a problem for years. She'd like to see something done.
"Because of this fatality we would like to sit down with Olmstead Parks and the city of Buffalo and whoever is in charge with making decisions for the city about this thruway coming through MLK Park," said Davis-Miller.
The state lowered the speed limit on the Scajaquada Parkway from 50 to 30 miles per hour after a car jumped the curb crossed the grassy median into Delaware Park and killed a three-year-old boy back in 2015.
"In regards to the 198, it took about 15 years of public discussion before any tangible change was ever seen. So, in relation to Martin Luther King Park. like they said earlier, we're seeing a lot of changes around the park where we want to keep the changes coming for the better. We do not want to wait for another like-minded accident to happen before we get what we need to make the road safer," said Bethel, Jr., Restore Our Community Coalition research associate.
"We're looking forward to hearing what the response from the community says about it, this area right here. It's needed, slow it down," said Holman.