Solutions sought for "devil's backbone"
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind.-- 45 accidents over 3 years in a one mile stretch of road, nick named the "Devil's Backbone."
The strip is on State Road 25 in between county roads 400 West and 200 South, just southwest of Warsaw.
The winding road has seen its fair share of issues--from slide off's due to snow, distracted drivers, and freak accidents the road has residents concerned, not because of the road itself, rather the people traveling it.
Larry and Betty Boggs have lived together on SR-25 for the past 63 years and Larry was even born in the house they currently live in that is just yards from the infamous road. They have seen crazy things as people drive past--from people reading books to applying makeup!
Aside from the antics, there are even legends locals associate with the devil's road.
Larry said he had heard about a horse and wagon that traveled down the road and ended up being sucked up by the wooded swamp. And Terry Rockhill, who has worked alongside SR-25 for 15 years says she has seen it all and heard that there are apparently semis buried along the side of the Devil's Backbone after they have slide off the hair pin turns.
Whether you believe in the tall tales or not the facts are just as scary.
Sarah Lancaster of 911 Dispatch has looked into collisions on this stretch of road over the past 3 years. In 2017 there were 11 car related incidents, in 2018 21, and then for 2019 to the most recent accident, there have been 13 so far.
After seeing these results, I reached out to the Indiana Department of Transportation and spoke with representative Nichole Thomas. Thomas said that she has heard about this road before but never by this nickname. However, she said that the road itself may not be the problem. Rather, accidents can come from driver error and speeding and a myriad of other starts.
Thomas says that after seeing Lancaster's findings, INDOT will be looking into community reports and working with INDOT's engineering department to see if there is a pattern of crashes that could potentially warrant a response.