Hinsdale Details Crashes At Fuller's Car Wash

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale's leader on Tuesday documented the history of crashes at Fuller's Car Wash, where a 14-year-old boy was killed on the sidewalk last year.

At a Village Board meeting, Village President Tom Cauley said police statistics show Fuller's Car Wash, 102 Chicago Ave., has experienced fewer crashes than other high-traffic establishments.

Here's the information that Cauley presented on four crashes at Fuller's, except the fatal one on July 17, 2023:

• July 24, 2007, 3:22 p.m.: A 62-year-old man driving a BMW struck a Honda traveling south on Lincoln Street, resulting in minor damage to a license plate cover and a rear tire rim. No injuries were reported. Each car was driven by its owner.
• Jan. 22, 2009, 2:05 p.m.: A Fuller's employee driving a Jeep was exiting the wash when it accelerated without warning. The employee tried to stop it by applying the brakes, but was unable to do so. The Jeep struck an unoccupied car in front of the dry cleaner at 11 S. Lincoln St. It came to a stop when it struck a tree in the parkway. The force of the impact on the unoccupied car sent that car into the dry cleaner. As a precautionary measure, the employee was taken to the hospital. The cause was attributed to a nationwide problem with Jeeps having acceleration problems. It was the subject of federal investigations. For about a decade, Fuller's turned off the engines of certain Jeeps and rolled them out of the car wash. This lasted until the Jeep software problems were resolved, according to the village.
• Nov. 7, 2009, 10:52 a.m.: A 68-year-old inadvertently pulled his car forward while waiting in line to enter the car wash. His Cadillac hit a Toyota in front of him and struck the driver of the Toyota who was outside his car putting something in the trunk. The Toyota driver suffered minor injuries and refused treatment. After striking the Toyota, the Cadillac driver overcorrected and backed into a Mercedes behind him. The Mercedes driver had been waiting on Chicago Avenue to enter the car wash line.
• May 17, 2022, 2:21 p.m.: An unoccupied Honda exited the car wash and struck an unoccupied Jeep that was in front of the Honda. Then the Jeep rolled into a Lexus parked on Lincoln. The car wash was closed for business at the time, with staff running the car through the wash for detailing. It was raining at the time, and normal car wash routines and procedures were not in place. There was minor damage to the Lexus.

Cauley said police data showed far fewer crashes have occurred at Fuller's than at the Grant Square shopping center, the Mobil gas station on Chicago Avenue and the Shell gas station on Ogden Avenue. He said Fuller's doesn't "jump out" as an area with a lot of crashes.

"It's my view that our police department has been very proactive on traffic safety," Cauley said. "They come to the board often with issues about traffic."

At a meeting last month, the parents of 14-year-old Richards spoke about the history of crashes, giving different information in certain cases.

On July 17, Sean Richards was walking on the sidewalk next to Fuller's from the orthodontist's office to the library when a 16-year-old Fuller's employee hit him. The worker ended up crashing into Fontano's Subs, 9 S. Lincoln St., which is across the street, injuring three people.

At last month's meeting, Richards' mother, Kristine Richards, said the village was "complicit" with Fuller's failure to address the issues. She and her husband, Brian Richards, called for the village to revoke Fuller's special-use permit. Cauley later said the village did not have that power.

Shortly after the crash, Fuller's put up bollards outside without a building permit in an attempt to prevent another crash.

Later, the business went to the village to get a permit. The village required the installation of more bollards, at the recommendation of its regular engineer.

But the Richards family's engineer said the bollards weren't enough to stop a crash. The Richards family asked Hinsdale to get another engineer's opinion. The village did, and the second engineer required stronger, crash-tested bollards, placing them farther away from the sidewalk.

Hinsdale bought the bollards for Fuller's to speed up the project, with the village expecting reimbursement. The bollards are expected later this week.

Meanwhile, the village has placed temporary barriers in front of the wash.

"So the likelihood of having an accident before the new bollards are put in place is small or non-existent," Cauley said.

Fuller's has a 27-year documented history of parking customers' cars on the sidewalk, violating the village code. The village said it has issued citations in recent months.

The village says Fuller's opened in 1962.