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At the intersection of E. North Avenue and Middle Street, two Japanese automotive superpowers came head-to-head on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, the duel didn’t involve feats of speed or measures of market share.

Instead, the all-too-often occurrence of a car accident broke the hum of a heavy rush hour when a Honda Accord collided with a Nissan Xterra.

“I’ve been picking up cars here for years and it’s always the same ordeal,” said Jason Watkins, of Jay’s Towing, who hauled the Honda away on a flatbed trailer.

As per usual, one of the drivers was pulling onto E. North Avenue from Middle Street and was hit by a car traveling eastbound toward I-279, Watkins said.

Police arrived on the scene to file a report, but no one was injured.

Though PennDOT records show that no more than five accidents occur at the intersection in any given year, reports are not filed for accidents where no injuries, towing or property damage occurs.

Anecdotal evidence from crossing guards and residents who live near the intersection suggests that more than 10 occur a year.

This is significant since two residents of Historic Deutshtown, Joe Renckley and Nick Kyriazi, have prodded city government for the better part of a decade to add a stop sign to E. North Avenue or make lane changes to slow the traffic at the intersection.

Renckley has been collecting signatures from Northside residents for over a year with the intent to coerce city officials to make the intersection more safe. The cause could gain steam, since Jay Costa, an opponent of the intersection changes, left his post as head of Public Works in the fall of last year.