Dangerous Roads in Central Kentucky

Any road can be dangerous, depending on the conditions and who is driving, but some Kentucky roads have more accidents on them than others. Thanks to statistics and record-keeping, various lists have been prepared to warn drivers of danger zones where vehicle accidents are common.

There may be a number of reasons why a section of road or an intersection is especially hazardous.

• Volume: The more vehicles there are, the more likely it is there will be collisions.
• Intersections: Drivers may or may not obey stop lights. Vehicles may be traveling at a high rate of speed and be unable to stop in time. Sight lines may be bad. Tailgaters may try to get through intersections without stopping. An intersection may simply be designed poorly and because of its layout make accidents more likely.
• Pedestrians: All too often roads are designed with vehicles in mind and pedestrians an after-thought. As a result there may be no cross-walks, or not enough of them, causing people to cross streets when and where they can.
• Weather conditions: Snow, rain and ice complicate driving in already dangerous locations.
• Lighting: At sunrise and sunset, the sun can get in drivers’ eyes and temporarily blind them. If there is poor artificial lighting, darkness makes it more difficult to see.

Lexington Police released to WKYT the locations within the city that were the most dangerous intersections in Lexington in 2012. The top five were the sites of more than 140 crashes. The one topping the list isn’t your typical intersection: it’s the roundabout at Wellington Way and Reynolds Road, averaging three accidents a month.

Local residents told the station why it’s dangerous:

• Vehicles don’t slow down before entering it.
• They are in the wrong lane and cut off other drivers to get where they want to go.
• It’s narrow and can be slippery when wet.

Other intersections on the list include:

• Richmond at Fontaine Road (which averaged about an accident every other week)
• South Broadway at West Vine Street
• Alumni Drive at Man O’ War Boulevard
• Man O’ War at Pink Pigeon.

Reasons for the dangers include high volume and drivers going too fast and too close to others as they try to beat red lights,  according to Commander Thomas Curtsinger with Lexington Police. He says the department keeps track of accidents to make changes to traffic control to make streets safer, but, “At the end of the day, it’s gotta come down to driver behavior,” he told the station.

In Lexington in the area where the University of Kentucky is located, during events such as basketball or football games the roads which normally may not be so bad become dangerous. Roads become congested with high volumes of traffic, there are many pedestrians, and drivers can be impatient and intoxicated.

Only In Your State lists the twelve most dangerous, deadly places in Kentucky, some in the Lexington area:

• KY-4, also known as New Circle Road, goes around Lexington. This circular highway is one of the reasons Lexington is in second place behind Louisville for the most accidents. It’s listed as one of the top six most dangerous roads by the Kentucky State Police and state attorney reports.
• The I-64 expressway runs through Louisville, through Lexington and Ashland, passing through parts of Fayette, Scott, Jefferson, Shelby, Franklin, Woodford, Rowan, Bath, Boyd and Clark counties. It’s also listed as one of the state’s most dangerous roads.
• I-75 travels through Williamsburg, Lexington and Covington. There are a variety of locations along this long stretch of road where accidents frequently happen.

Where’s the most dangerous intersection in the country? Time magazine looked at the numbers provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 2003 to 2012 and located it in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, where Knights Road crosses Street Road.

• It’s a commercial corridor with restaurants, stores and gas stations.
• Signage is poor, lighting is bad, drivers are aggressive and jaywalkers are common. The streets don’t meet at a 90-degree angle.
• There were seven fatal crashes at that intersection over ten years. In a one-mile stretch of Street Road including this intersection, there were 144 accidents causing 170 deaths or injuries in 2006 and 2007.
• Every day more than 36,000 vehicles travel on Street Road.

If you or a family member has been involved in a vehicle accident which was not your fault, you should know your rights and seek legal protection. You can bet the insurance company knows what to do to keep you from getting fair compensation. We can help. Call Julie Butcher, the Lexington, KY Vehicle Accident Lawyer at 859-233-3641, or fill out our online contact form for a free consultation.