On way to work, pedestrian struck and killed in Charlotte

I read that headline and wondered why anyone would ban the use of any traffic cameras. The Iowa legislature is considering such a move. To do so would be pandering to the voters, nothing more.

Look at the guy in Charlotte. Being familiar with the route didn’t save this pedestrian worker as he headed to his job at Wells Fargo along a route he’d done morning after morning. I’m sure the truck driver feels badly about his part, how could he feel anything else, but that won’t change the facts. The truck driver is reportedly charged, but one witness is quoted as saying there was fog that morning and he didn’t believe the truck driver ever saw the pedestrian. Chances are the prosecution will have no choice but to plea bargain. Who knows what the truth is except the pedestrian is dead.

A construction company worker who was near the scene said he didn't believe the dump truck driver saw the pedestrian. Tuesday morning was foggy across much of the area. The pedestrian was 47-years-old, a director with corporation’s commercial mortgage servicing team handling asset management with commercial real estate. Photo available. 

The reporter, Maria David writing for the Charlotte Observer did a nice job of detailing the number of accidents and where this intersection ranks for most dangerous intersections in Charlotte and on the DOT's High Accident Location List. It sort of makes you wonder if each state shouldn’t do more to publish lists of the most dangerous intersections.

Charlotte’s High Accident Location List can be accessed by following this link.

That report is nicely done, with bar graphs and stats for number of collisions, circumstances and other identifying data. There is a spread sheet with each location and the crash rates. Link to NC list. So I wonder if Iowa has such a list. Drop below this list from Charlotte.

2010 Crash Summary

Collisions by Motorist Contributing Circumstances

Contributing Circumstances  Total Collisions Percent of Total Collisions

• Inattention 3,480  22.12%
• Failure to reduce speed  2,704  17.19%
• Failed to yield right of way  2,056  13.07%
• None Indicated  871  5.54%
• Followed too closely  654  4.16%
• Improper turn  573  3.64%
• Disregarded traffic signals  548  3.48%
• Improper lane change  534  3.39%
• Unknown   420  2.66%
• Exceeded safe speed for conditions  371  2.36%
• Other 294  1.87%
• Alcohol use  216  1.37%
• Improper backing  190  1.21%
• Operated vehicle in erratic, reckless, careless, negligent or aggressive manner  196 1.25%
• Swerved or avoided due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, non-motorist  178 1.13%
• Overcorrected/oversteered 176  1.12%
• Crossed centerline/going wrong way  174  1.11%
• Driver distracted  171  1.09%
• Other improper passing  131  0.83%
• Disregarded stop sign  143  0.91%
• Visibility obstructed  106  0.67%
• Operated defective equipment  101  0.64%
• Exceeded authorized speed limit  94  0.60%
• Use of improper lane  32  0.20%
• Disregarded other traffic signs  45  0.29%
• Disregarded road markings  45  0.29%
• Improper or no signal  33  0.21%
• Improper parking  26  0.17%
• Disregarded yield sign  25  0.16%
• Right turn on red  14  0.09%
• Drug use  8  0.05%
• Passed on curve  5  0.03%
• Passed stopped school bus  3  0.02%
• TOTAL 15,799  100%

The University of Kentucky has developed procedures for identifying high-crash locations and prioritizing safety improvements. Link Iowa has a list but names it a bit different: Iowa DOT’s Safety Improvement Candidate List, June 2002, a bit dated I’d say. Iowa State University has studied the issue. See Systematic Identification of High Crash Locations (TR-442). There is a public website. Wikipedia refers to this in “Traffic collision”.

NHTA Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report

About the research

Abstract: The objective of this project was to develop tools and procedures to identify potentially hazardous roadway locations and designs, and to demonstrate the utility of these tools by developing candidate lists of high crash locations in Iowa. An initial task built an integrated database to facilitate the tools and procedures. The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) Geographic Information Management System (GIMS) and Geographic Information System Accident Analysis and Location System (GIS-ALAS) databases were integrated with available digital imagery.

In Iowa the statistics are broken down by county from 1994 to 2009.  Looking at 2009 there were 372 car accidents with fatalities, down from 412 in 2008. The counties with the highest numbers were Benton with 10, Scott with 13, Woodbury with 11,  Pottawattamie with 12, Polk 13, Linn with 15, Johnson with 11 and Jefferson with 9. Link