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Road Confusion
AAA says a massive collection of signs in Somerset, Pennsylvania, is one of the most confusing in the state.On a crisp fall morning last October, Sandy Johnson, 46, and her mother buckled up and headed out to pick apples on a farm in Licking County, Ohio. The two were traveling east on Morse Road and approaching the intersection at Route 310 when Sandy noticed a red-flashing signal light and stop sign. The mother of two brought her car to a halt, and then pulled out. She didn't make it far.
A Chevrolet Blazer, heading down Route 310 at 55 m.p.h., seemingly materialized from nowhere to crash broadside into Sandy's Mazda 626. Her skull was crushed, her spine was snapped and her lungs and heart were ripped open. Her 71-year-old mother, her neck broken, took her last breath.
Sandy and her husband, Dean, 57, had been preparing to celebrate their 23rd wedding anniversary. After a highway patrolman delivered the worst of all news, Dean says, "In an instant, the love of my life was ripped from my soul."
Because he knew Sandy was a safe driver, Johnson looked to the intersection for answers. He discovered nearly 70 crashes had occurred there from 1990 to 1999. In the past 13 years, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) had conducted six studies of the site, culminating with a 50-page report in August 2001, more than a year before Sandy and her mother were killed.
Officials concluded that the main problem was a corner house that cut the view to about one-quarter of what would be an adequate distance. Putting up a traffic signal would reduce collisions by an estimated 80 percent. But the crossroads didn't meet certain criteria, so the signal was ruled out.
In April 2002, ODOT requested and received approval to purchase and raze the view-obstructing house. But at the time of Sandy's collision, the project remained unscheduled. ODOT says that due to the size of the state's highway network, it just can't fix everything at once.
Dean Johnson's crusade to make the intersection safe, however, spurred change. By mid-December, a four- way stop was installed as an interim measure and a full traffic signal is planned.
Intersection accidents like Sandy's are all too common. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly half of all reported crashes in 2001 were related to intersections. That's 2.7 million collisions a year. Intersections are not the only hazard either.
Across America's 4 million miles of blacktop, every day a multitude of dangers awaits you and your vehicle: poorly designed and outdated roads, shoddily maintained thoroughfares, inadequate signs and lighting, and a lack of safe crosswalks for pedestrians. The simple truth is that you can buy the safest car available, drive carefully, and still be in danger because the road itself is working against you.
"We've done a great deal over the past couple of decades to improve driver and vehicle safety," says Diane Steed, former head of NHTSA and now executive director of the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF). "But our roads are not safe enough, and it's time to bring this to the floor."
But fixing problems gets expensive quickly. And in times of tight budgets, states and localities are often left without enough to do the job.
Meanwhile, road use is soaring. In 2000, Americans traveled 2.7 trillion miles, up 20 percent since 1993. And experts are becoming concerned about who's behind the wheel. Bella Dinh-Zarr, national director of traffic safety policy for AAA, points out that by 2020 there will be more than 40 million licensed drivers over the age of 65. "Crash rates for this group continue to climb because existing road hazards and aging don't mix well."
Dangerous Crossings. Reader's Digest wondered how often roadway designs and defects might contribute to serious accidents, so we analyzed NHTSA fatal crash data from 1998 to 2001, removing accidents linked to driver error or impairment. The result: 24,067 people were killed. One-third of them were at intersections, where confusing lanes, blind spots and inadequate signs can cause havoc.
"Left-turning vehicles are involved in the worst kinds of crashes and those most often associated with fatalities and serious injuries," says Richard Miller, manager of community safety services for AAA Michigan. Aging boomers face special problems in these maneuvers. Starting in their 60s, many people will lose some of their ability to judge the speed of oncoming cars. Complex judgments, like executing a quick left turn, can take these drivers 50 percent more time than they take a 20-year-old.
Starting in 1996, AAA Michigan began working with city officials in Detroit and Grand Rapids to reduce crashes at hazardous intersections. A big part of the program: the addition of left-hand turn lanes with their own signals. Says Miller, "Protecting a person making a left turn really drops the probability of a crash."
Other changes included increasing the size of traffic signals from 8- to 12-inch lenses, placing signals over each lane and adding all-red intervals. "When your light turns red, it's still red in all other directions for a second or two. It allows the intersection to clear," Miller explains.
Injuries at some crossings were slashed by as much as 71 percent. Overall, the intersections in Detroit experienced a 47 percent reduction. Results in Grand Rapids were comparable. Over 130 intersections in the two cities have been upgraded; by the end of next year, all 300 known problematic intersections will have been enhanced.
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