The Lowdown on Accidents at Intersections

How often have you encountered a sudden traffic jam as you approached an intersection, only to discover when you got close that two cars had collided and the drivers were out of their cars, exchanging information? It’s probably happened more than once–according to the Federal Highway Administration, 40 percent of all U.S. crashes occur in or near intersections. The most frequent are rear-end collisions, head-on collisions, T-bone crashes (where one car drives into the side of another), and accidents involving bikers or pedestrians. The FHA tells us that 96 percent of such accidents are caused by driver error.

Intersections are Dangerous

Alarmingly, half of all traffic injuries and one-third of all traffic deaths happen at intersections–a large proportion involving cars speeding through red lights. More than half of those injured or killed were pedestrians, bicyclists, or people in other cars. Manfred Sternberg & Associates can help individuals involved in intersection accidents involving bicyclists, motorcycles, cars, and trucks.

The FHA says almost half of intersection accidents are caused by driver inattention; the other primary reasons include incorrect guesses about what another driver was about to do, illegal maneuvers, distracted driving (such as texting), and misjudging another car’s speed.

Highway safety experts suggest that the best way to avoid being caught up in another driver’s mistake is to:

Approach every intersection with caution, even if you have the right of way;
Slow down at yellow lights; and
Be cautious when approaching any intersection with an obstructed view. Obstructed views may be caused by large vehicles, sharp uphill slopes, and untrimmed trees hanging over into the roadway, among other obstructions.

To reduce the number of intersection accidents, some cities have begun adding signals, signs, and other street markings to catch motorists’ attention. Others have added left-turn lanes and flashing lights to warn drivers of upcoming intersections. Some locales have even turned intersections into traffic circles.