In February, The New Falcon Herald began a series on dangerous intersections in the Falcon area. The first in the series focused on the intersection of Meridian Road and Londonderry Drive. The article states that failure to yield right-of-way and inattentive driving were the leading causes of crashes at that site.This month, the NFH focused on two intersections: Flower Road and Meridian Road and Bent Grass Meadows Drive and Meridian Road. According to the Colorado State Patrolís statistics team, failure to yield right-of-way and inattentive driving were the leading causes of accidents at both of these intersections as well.Jennifer Irvine, county engineer with El Paso County, said the portion of Meridian that intersects with Flower Drive is not yet complete because it has not been accepted into the countyís roadway maintenance system; technically, the developer still has more work to do. The county has been plowing that area during snowstorms, even though it is not the countyís responsibility, she said.ìWe have not had additional concerns about the intersection of Flower and Meridian, but if there is a safety issue, we will look into it,î Irvine said. She said she is unsure why the developer has not completed the necessary improvements.Trooper Josh Lewis with the CSP said since 2013, accidents at Flower and Meridian have fluctuated in their frequency. The year with the highest amount of accidents was 2013 with eight, followed by 2015 with seven. Since 2013, 69.5 percent of the 23 total accidents there were caused by failure to yield right-of-way, and 47.8 percent were caused by improper left turns.Accidents at this site most frequently occurred on Wednesdays, he said.Conversely, the number of accidents at the intersection of Bent Grass Meadows Drive and Meridian Road in 2017 has nearly doubled from the amount in 2016 and tripled from the amount in 2015, Lewis said. ìFailure to yield right-of-way crashes were up 150 percent in 2017 from 2016 and contributed to 83.3 percent of total crashes at this intersection in 2017,î he said.Five accidents resulted in the injury of seven people at this intersection, five of whom were injured in 2017 alone, Lewis said.ìHalf of the crashes at this intersection in 2017 occurred on Fridays,î he said.Irvine said a light is planned for the Bent Grass Meadows and Meridian intersection, and is a requirement as a result of development there.ìThat signal will go in when the intersection meets the traffic warrants as determined by federal requirements,î she said. ìOnce those are met, the light needs to go in. If we put in a signal before those warrants are met, many times it actually causes more accidents than it helps prevent.îThose warrants are based on years of study and not determined arbitrarily, Irvine said. ìAlthough a light is not warranted yet, it will be very, very soon,î she said.Irvine said about 95 percent of the issues drivers have with any given area is a result of either a lack of education on the part of the driver or enforcement of the rules of the road. Accidents caused by engineering issues or by the response to an emergency make up the other 5 percent, she said.The Colorado Driver Handbook explains right-of-way and proper left turns. ìThe law states who must yield the right-of-way; it does not give anyone the right-of-way, even if your traffic signal is green,î the handbook states. ìYou must do everything you can to prevent striking a pedestrian or another vehicle, regardless of the circumstances.î Additionally, it states that drivers turning left must yield to all oncoming traffic and anyone with a stop sign may only proceed after yielding to all pedestrians and vehicles. ìWe need to encourage people to be safe, make sure they are wearing their seat belts, and following the rules of the road,î Irvine said. ìAccidents do not typically happen as a result of inadequate infrastructure. Our top priority in the county is safety.îEditorís note: More intersections next month!
