Police Promise Crackdown On Speeders At Notorious Marblehead Hill

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Police say they are working with neighbors and collecting home security camera footage to identify drivers who use a steep hill on Peach Highlands in Marblehead as "a private speed jump."

"Whether you are a life-long resident or new to town, you have most likely heard about the steep hill on Peach Highlands that many wanna-be race car drivers speed up and catch air under their vehicles as they hurtle over the blind crest of the hill at high speed," Marblehead police said in a Facebook post Tuesday that included video of a car speeding over the hill. "To say that this is a dangerous, selfish, reckless, illegal and potentially life ending activity would be an understatement."

While the hill has long been a problem area for traffic enforcement, police said there has been a spike in complaints from neighbors in recent weeks. Police said they would be working with neighbors to review home security camera footage and encouraging neighbors to call in descriptions of cars that speed over the hill.

"This activity could draw any one or combination of the following repercussions for the driver; expensive civil fines for speeding, sizeable insurance surcharges, criminal charges landing the driver in Lynn Court along with a criminal record and suspension of the driver’s license," police said. "Intensified patrols (both marked and unmarked units) might just be in the area waiting."

Dave Copeland covers Marblehead and other North Shore communities for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).