Top Nine Santa Barbara Dangerous Intersections
Hello, I’m Ed Smith, a Santa Barbara personal injury attorney. As residents of Santa Barbara know, there are many dangerous intersections around the city. While changes are ongoing to lessen the danger at some of them, the problem of dangerous intersections continues to be an issue with local residents. Following are some of the intersections where accidents occur:
- Las Positas Road and Calle Real
- West Carrillo Street and Chapala Street
- North Milpas Street and U.S. 101
- Figueroa Street and De La Vina Street
- Santa Barbara and De La Guerra Streets
- Valle Laureles and State Street
- Castillo Street and U.S. 101
- Calle Palo Colorado and State Street (There is a crosswalk but drivers do not give pedestrians the right of way.)
- Carrillo Street and Anacapa Street (In earlier years, this was considered the worst intersection in the city. While improvements have been made, pedestrians should still exercise caution near this intersection.)
Safety Improvements Ongoing in Santa Barbara
While some dangerous intersections in Santa Barbara have been repaired, such as the addition of a traffic light on Carrillo and De La Vina Streets, it is the responsibility of drivers to obey the traffic signals. The reason the city installed a traffic signal at this intersection is because 14 accidents involving pedestrians occurred here from 2004 to 2013. In 2013, there were also 11 vehicle collisions. Many of these accidents have been the result of drivers turning right on a red light. A large number of violations have been ticketed by local police since a right turn at this intersection is no longer legal.
Future Projects
Problems with accommodations for bicycle riders continue to be addressed in Santa Barbara by the Transportation and Circulation Committee. Projects being planned or considered in the future include deciding which option to choose for the Micheltorena bike lanes with the aim of closing the east/west gap.
Pedestrian deaths and injuries in Santa Barbara continue. While the city has made a considerable effort at reducing pedestrian accidents, the most recent compilation of driver violations by the Transportation Inquiry Mapping System, shows drivers often failed to yield the right-of-way in crosswalks 46 percent of the time and failed to yield to pedestrians outside the crosswalk 7.9 percent of the time. Driving under the influence accounted for 5.3 percent of accidents while failure to stop at a stop sign or red light accounted for 3.9 percent.
Pedestrians are often hit while crossing in the crosswalk 63.2 percent of the time, and 18.4 percent are hit when not in a crosswalk. This belies the assumption that pedestrians are mostly responsible for pedestrian accidents. Overall, the accidents are caused by inattentive drivers who do not obey the rules of the road.
Attorney Ed Smith
Santa Barbara Car Accident & Personal Injury Attorneys
My name is Ed Smith, and I’m a Santa Barbara personal injury attorney. When you are in need of experienced help for your injury, please call (805) 372-0200 for advice that is free and friendly. You can also call toll-free (800) 404-5400.
Links here on Yelp, Google and Avvo offer reviews of my practice.
My Past Verdicts and Settlements page offers additional information.
I am proud to belong to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum that accepts attorneys with high verdicts or settlement of a million dollars or more.
Picture Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara,_California#/media/File:Santabarbarastreetscene.jpg Photo courtesy of David Liu
Source of Santa Barbara Dangerous Intersections –
:cd bw