For many commuters, South Mountain consists of little more than steep and winding Wyandotte Street. But around it are the various blurs that make up its cliffside neighborhoods, rarely acknowledged by harried drivers, but deeply affected by traffic’s influence.

On one small street in particular, residents are worried that an accident is inevitable; one involving a car and a child.

“It’s like I need a checkered flag,” said Jan David Sabin as he glared up and down the narrow, sheer stretch of Sassafrass Street his house sits on. A hundred feet away is the unending stream of Wyandotte traffic at rush hour. Racing up toward that traffic are drivers seeking to minimize their commutes, and everyone who know this neighborhood bordering Lower Saucon Township knows this one warped street is the last two-way thoroughfare available.

Sabin, whose house is adjacent to idyllic Ullman Park, with its view across the Southside into Fountain Hill, is certain that it’s only a matter of time before a child gets hurt and is waging a one-man effort to make drivers slow down before it’s too late. The self-proclaimed “Pain-in-the-ass on Sassafrass” said during a recent afternoon as he stood just out of view of approaching drivers, “I’ve seen a lot of close calls. We shouldn’t have to wait until some kid gets killed for the city to do something.”

Sabin says Sassafrass was until recently marked 15 miles per hour and allowed very cramped parking, which slowed traffic considerably. But now the limit is 25 and parking isn’t permitted. The road, though not large, is clear for drivers to power their way uphill, which he says is the real threat.

His tactics for slowing passing cars include placing speed limit and warning signs of his own on his property and nearby and taking photos of cars as they pass. The old camera he uses does capture license plates, but as there’s no way to prove a car’s speed in a photograph, he said he only uses the flash to induce more caution.

Drivers have called police on his activities and been informed he is within his right to use a camera in public, he said.

“It’s a ruse. The flash just makes people think.”

Sabin said he believes much of the traffic is from St. Luke’s University Hospital, as staff try to find shortcuts to higher-speed roadways.

A stop sign was added downhill recently, Sabin said, but was placed so high drivers can easily miss it. His hope is that the city will eventually paint warning crosswalks at the park, lower the speed once again, and install an electronic speed display.

He said he heard his street is on a list to receive one, but he’s been unable to verify if or when it may happen. He is considering beginning a petition of his neighbors, many of whom have children who use the park.

City officials did not respond to inquiries.