Dead man's curve

Tow-truck operator Rodney Williams sat beneath a gloomy underpass on Kelly Drive, watching the cars whiz by as drivers headed into a notorious curve just before Boathouse Row.

The rain came down in slanted sheets, scarring the surface of the surging, mud-churned Schuylkill River during Thursday's rainstorm. Small ponds of rainwater formed along the edges of Kelly Drive in both directions.

Williams waited. He knew it was not a matter of "if," but "when."

"There were two accidents so far today within the past two-and-a-half hours," said Williams, 36, who drives for Poppy's & Son's towing. "They come around the curve too fast and they lose control when it's raining. That's why all you see is tow trucks parked up and down here because every time it rains, it's crazy."

During his 12 years driving a tow truck, Williams estimated that he has hauled off the crushed remains of cars from "at least 200 accidents" on this stretch of Kelly Drive. Some fatal, he said.

The latest fatality came last week amid an historic deluge that dropped a record 8.02 inches of rain on the city within just a few hours.

Although the rain had stopped by the time Tiyana Stinson, heading east, approached the curve near Boathouse Row just before 11 p.m. July 28, the roadway remained slippery and the grassy stretch between Kelly Drive and the river was slick.

Stinson, 21, of Colwyn, Delaware County, apparently jerked the wheel to avoid an oncoming car that swerved into her lane. Her car veered into the river. The other car did not stop, according to police.

Even in the best driving conditions, John B. Kelly Drive is a serpent of a road, with four miles of half-moon turns and twists that run along the river from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to Lincoln Drive near Wissahickon Creek. Many drivers ignore the 35 mph speed limit.

"The main issue with Kelly Drive is excessive speeding for the traffic conditions, especially in the rainy weather," city Streets Department Commissioner David Perri said yesterday. He added, "We do have a higher rate of accidents on Kelly Drive than on other roads, mainly because of the curves that people need to navigate and because of the relatively narrow right of way."

Perri said his department is taking steps to make Kelly Drive safer. The city recently requested a $500,000 state grant to apply "anti-skid coating" on Kelly and parts of Lincoln Drive. If the city receives the money, the work will begin during next summer's paving season, Perri said.

Last summer, the city installed 10 LED (light-emitting diode) fixtures on Kelly Drive as part of a pilot program geared toward reducing accidents. The new fixtures cast a "whiter, brighter" light that should help improve visibility and prevent accidents, Perri said.

In 2012, there were three fatal accidents on Kelly Drive and 173 non-fatal accidents. This year, as of July 14, there were two fatal crashes and 86 non-fatal accidents, according statistics provided by Capt. John Wilczynski of the Police Accident Investigation District.

Roadways can be treacherous when rainfall begins because old oil, already on the road, gets stirred up, Wilczynski said.

"When it first starts to rain, the first couple of minutes, it gets slippery and everyone should just slow down," he said, adding, "If there is going to be heavy rain, the best thing to do is avoid Kelly Drive and take an alternate route."

Stinson's July 28 accident marked the fourth time this year that a car careened into the Schuylkill off Kelly Drive, though one incident was "intentional," an apparent suicide attempt, said Wilczynski.

Earlier that evening, Stinson went out to dinner with a friend, who rode in the passenger's seat. She called home about 10:45 p.m. to say she was on her way and would be there soon. That was the last time her family heard from her. A somber-faced police lieutenant knocked on the door and awoke the family at about 3:50 a.m., according to Stinson's father, Miguel Semiday, 47.

The friend, whose name has not been released by police, told investigators and Stinson's family that he desperately tried to save her as the 2005 silver Toyota Avalon began to slip below the dark waters. Stinson, who was studying pediatric nursing at Philadelphia Community College, did not know how to swim and feared water, her family said.

"With the blackness of the water and the blackness of the night, he tried and tried and tried to get Tiyana out," said Stinson's aunt, Tanya Drayton, relaying the friend's account after family members met with him Thursday evening. "He tried pulling her out but she was panicking. He came up for air and dove back under again and again. He was telling her, 'Get out. Get out.' She was afraid of water. She wouldn't get out. He said that he exhausted every ounce of energy he had."

Drayton said the friend, growing desperate and scared, swam out of the river and ran into the middle of Kelly Drive, where he flagged down a car and used someone's cellphone to call 911.

The friend could not recall any details about the other car, which is not unusual in the aftermath of a traumatic event and given the fact that it was dark out, so investigators have little to go on, according to Wilczynski. The investigation is ongoing and toxicology tests are pending, though "early indications are that the passenger was not impaired," he said yesterday.

Drayton described her niece's relationship to the friend as fun and flirtatious, with potential for a budding romance.

"We don't feel that there was any foul play. It was during a rainstorm. There was really nothing either of them could do. It could have been any of us," Drayton said.

During a gathering at Drayton's home in West Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, Stinson's family shared memories that brought laughter and tears, simultaneously.

They recalled how Stinson, at age 14, made a soup-to-nuts Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family and how she cared for her grandmother when she was ill, bathing her and combing her hair and cooking her meals. They described her as smart and lively, a precocious and mischievous child who grew into an ambitious teen who graduated from Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne with a 3.8 GPA.

"She was just a sweet girl with a bright future," said her mother, Tia Stinson, 41. "She didn't let anything get in her way. The sky was the limit."