The student, Thomas O'Connor, walked away from his twisted mess of a car.

Residents, who, like those in many of Durham's older neighborhoods, stay connected through an electronic mailing list, chattered for days about the wreck and whether anything could be done to slow things down in Trinity Park, their picturesque neighborhood.

The answer: Not a whole lot.

Buchanan is a north-south roadway bordering Duke's East Campus. It twists and dips, and there are spots with limited sightlines because of some large trees.

There aren't many accidents, but residents say there are plenty of speeders in the neighborhood, where the speed limit in the past couple of years was reduced from 35 mph to 30 mph. That reduction was one of several actions the city has taken to slow traffic along Buchanan. Painted crosswalks and more pedestrian signs helped reduce speeds by 4 to 5 miles per hour, according to a city report.

But should more action be taken? Opinions vary among neighbors. Some suggest additional traffic-slowing measures, like a consistent speed trap or spot checks for drunken driving, for example. Others are skeptical that anything can be done that will convince a drunken driver to ease off the pedal.

Jennifer Minnelli, a Buchanan Boulevard resident and past president of her neighborhood association, hopes talks between her group and city officials result in additional crosswalks or other traffic-calming measures.

"I think things are better than they were," she said. "But I think there could be ... more creative ways to handle the speed issues."

Phil Loziuk, with the city's traffic operations division, said Buchanan Boulevard is too busy for speed bumps or traffic circles, two common remedies.

"At some point you can't engineer stupidity out of people's driving habits," he said. "The only tool you really have is police enforcement."

Kevin Davis, a member of Trinity Park's traffic-calming committee, said his neighborhood was abuzz after the most recent accident, but overall is more concerned about speeding on Duke and Gregson streets, the area's other main arteries. He too isn't sure there's a perfect solution.

"The question is, can you prevent an incident where someone is impaired and is going to drive at a high rate of speed?" he said.

Durham Police charged O'Connor, the driver of the Dodge Intrepid that was totaled in the April 26 wreck, with driving while impaired, damage to real property, speeding 80 mph in a 30 mph zone, failure to wear a seat belt, and damage to crops and trees, said Kammie Michael, a police spokeswoman.

Residents are still amazed that O'Connor came away unscathed.

"It's a real miracle that the student involved wasn't killed," Davis said.