The KC Star recently published an article about the 13 deadliest intersections in Kansas City. The intersections include Bruce R. Watkins Drive and Gregory Boulevard and the Three Trails Crossings, formerly known as the Grandview Triangle.
The article noted that each location was the scene of five fatalities and attributed the wrecks to “Speed, aggressive driving, impaired drivers, and a lack of seat belt use.” As a personal injury lawyer who’s handled car crash cases for nearly 20 years, here are a few ways you can help avoid a crash when driving through one of these intersections.
1. Make eye contact with other drivers.
When your signal switches from red to green at one of these intersections, try to make eye contact with the other drivers before moving through. If you can’t make eye contact, at least look at the other cars. This will help ensure no one’s missed the signal change and that everyone has come to a complete stop as you drive through.
2. Slow down.
When approaching one of these intersections, slow down well below the speed limit. Even if your lane has a steady green signal as you approach and drive through the intersection, slowing down will help give you the time to react if another driver fails to stop. In setting your speed through the intersection, you should assume the other drivers are not paying attention and will not stop as required. Build-in enough time to avoid those cars.
Try getting your driving done during daylight hours. It may not be able to control when you drive through these intersections, but the crashes that have occurred there mostly happen at night. Therefore, if you can, avoid these intersections when its dark outside.
If you or a loved one has had the unfortunate luck to get into a crash in one of these intersections, please give Meyerkord, Russell & Hergott a call at (816) 867-8611. We have a wealth of experience handling crash cases and will bring that experience to bear on your case.