Intersection Safety Saves Lives

If you ask most people to define an intersection they will tell you it’s a place where two or more roads or streets come together. In reality, it’s far more complicated than that. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration an intersection is a planned point of conflict in the roadway system. With different crossing and entering movements by both drivers and pedestrians, an intersection is one of the most complex traffic situations that motorists encounter.

Dangers are compounded when we add the element of speeding motorists who disregard traffic controls. Despite improved intersection design and more sophisticated applications of traffic engineering measures, the annual toll of human loss due to motor vehicle crashes has not substantially changed in more than 25 years. In 2008, there were 37,261 fatalities on our Nation’s roadways. Of these, 7,772 (20.8% of total fatalities) were intersection or intersection related.

The rules in Tennessee for intersections include issues such as the right-of-way, pedestrians, right turns, left turns and turn signals. Intersections include:

• Cross streets,

• Side streets,

• Driveways,

• Shopping center or parking lot entrances.

If you have read my blog in the past you know that I often refer to the concept of “traffic checks” which is the practice of looking frequently and carefully for vehicle traffic approaching from each direction. “Traffic checks” are especially important when merging or changing lanes and when approaching and crossing intersections. Below are five things to remember to navigate an intersection safely:

1. Look both ways as you near an intersection. Before you enter an intersection, continue checking traffic from both the left and right for approaching vehicles and/or crossing pedestrians. Look first to the left to make sure cross traffic is yielding the right-of-way. Then look for traffic from the right. If stopped, look both left and right just before you start moving. Look across the intersection before you start to move to make sure the path is clear through the intersection.

2. Watch your speed and be prepared to brake or stop unexpectedly at intersections if your traffic checks alert you to a possible hazard. You should slow down before reaching the intersection, drive at your slowest speed just before entering the intersection and gradually increase your speed as you cross the intersection.

3. You should be in the proper lane for the direction you intend to travel before you reach the intersection. Do not make last minute lane changes as you start through an intersection. Do not pass a vehicle in an intersection.

4. Do not move into an intersection and block it after the traffic lights have changed. This is not only common sense, but it’s also illegal to block an intersection after the light has changed.

As an experienced Tennessee automobile accident attorney I often recommend to my clients and blog readers to make the effort to contact the Department of Safety and review the Rules of the Road. If you or a loved one is injured in an intersection automobile accident, call our experienced Nashville accident attorneys and find out about your rights and remedies.

Feel The Heat. One of the most important problems of our time most often confuses people. Many times I hear people mix up aggressive driving with road rage when in fact they are two very different things although they have common elements. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines road rage as “an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger of another motor vehicle precipitated by an incident that occurred on a roadway.”

Aggressive driving on the other hand includes behavior such as speeding, tailgating, running red lights or stop signs, and weaving in and out of traffic. It is estimated that aggressive driving costs the economy more than $40.4 billion a year, not to mention thousands of fatalities. We have all seen them, these aggressive drivers, they ride on people’s bumpers to force them out of the way, they weave in and out of traffic, their sense of self-importance worn on their sleeves for the world to see.

Today I’ll address the problem of aggressive driving. Aggressive driving behavior typically increases during the summer months, and the only way to put the bakes on it is to use a multi-pronged approach. Three states have been using this multi-pronged approach for several years now and have shown significant results. Maryland alone issued 205,062 tickets during the 2008 campaign, and the number of fatalities for aggressive driving was reduced. In Virginia, 98,474 tickets were issued and in Pennsylvania, 88,302. These states used technology to identify those areas where aggressive driving was a particular problem and they then enlisted the cooperation of local and county law enforcement agencies and stepped up a concerted enforcement policy that followed a creative public education program.

This summer the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is intensified its enforcement efforts aimed at aggressive drivers with the launch of the “100 Days of Summer HEAT” enforcement campaign. All summer long Troopers and local police statewide were very aggressive with speeding motorists, impaired drivers and those not buckled up properly. ”100 Days of Summer HEAT” took place June 18-20, July 2-4 and August 5-7. The THP have been compiling the results of this effort and I’ll report the findings as they are published.

If you witness aggressive driving identify the vehicle (color, make and plate number if possible) and then pull over at the next safe place and call the THP or your local police and report them. Taking a minute to make the call might mean that someone down the line will live on the make it home to see their families. If you are injured, or know someone who is, call out experienced Tennessee accident lawyers and find out about your rights and remedies.