DETROIT – Abe Hussein has owned the Sunoco gas station on Gratiot & Mt. Elliott for three years. That intersection, and the entire stretch of road in the shadow of Downtown, has become ground zero for car crashes throughout this year.
“You know Gratiot has just been like a speed zone for people at nighttime,” Hussein said on Saturday. “You know how many times I’ve seen people blow through the light going 100 miles per hour. I’m like, hey, thank God nobody’s coming this way.”
The latest crash happened early Saturday morning, involving a speeding motorcycle and an SUV. Just after 1:30am, the bike passed through the green light when it suddenly T-boned the SUV, which was making an illegal turn.
The crash killed two men: 38-year-old Quinton Kisor of Detroit – and the unnamed passenger in the SUV.
“I’m not surprised this happened, unfortunately,” Hussein said. “My condolences to the people, but that, you know, I don’t know what needs to be done here.”
Kisor was remembered all over social media following his death. He went by the nickname “Duck”, and a huge block party was held in his honor on Chalmers on Saturday evening.
“He was just so energetic, always smiling, always laughing, always talking junk,” Chalmaine Hobbs, who knew Kisor for 20 years, said on Saturday. “He was just funny, just a character and he loved that motorcycle.”
The Detroit Police tweeted on Saturday that they have increased their speed patrols along Gratiot, and police vehicles were visible on Saturday afternoon – even as two SUVs collided head on at the same intersection just before 5:00pm.
The deaths are the latest in a growing list of crashes on Gratiot.
On Sept. 6, an SUV crashed into the Avenue Grill Coney Island, killing a woman and leaving one man in critical condition.
Last month, two young girls were killed in a crash on Gratiot. On July 30, an early morning crash into an old warehouse killed a man and a woman.
On April 19, a hit-and-run involving a car and a couple riding scooters killed one woman and injured her boyfriend at the corner of Gratiot and E. Grand Blvd..
The sight of the sickening impact of two vehicles has become a way of life on Gratiot. Hussein, who also owns a gas station on Mt. Elliott and Mack Ave., says he does his best to avoid Gratiot when he drives home to Hamtramck and says it isn’t worth the risk.
“I used to take Mt. Elliott to Gratiot all the way to my house in one shot,” he said. “I don’t take that one shot anymore. It’s not safe.”