O.C. Intersection Ranked as 6th Deadliest

One intersection is home to posh Beverly Hills hotels, boutiques and a famous talent agency. The other, located 35 miles south in Orange County, is lined with mini-malls and fast-food restaurants.

The two traffic corners, worlds apart, are linked only by accident--many accidents.

A new insurance industry survey released Wednesday ranked the crossroads at Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards in the heart of Beverly Hills and the other at Brookhurst Street and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach as two of the 10 most dangerous intersections in the nation.

The State Farm Insurance Co. study, based on its own insurance claims, estimated the number of accidents at each site as topping 200 last year. The Beverly Hills crossing ranked fourth, while the Huntington Beach crossing ranked sixth. Heading State Farm’s list was a road in Texas, with more than 260 estimated accidents.

Cities can take relatively simple steps to reduce crash numbers, the study also found, such as redesigning driveways, installing larger traffic lights and adding flashing warning lights.

While local traffic officials disputed the rankings, the study’s results rang true to many people who live and work close to the pair of crossroads.

“There are near misses every day. You hear the tires screeching,” said Henry Mereness, 23, a mechanic at the Shell gas station at the Huntington Beach intersection. “This is pretty much the worst intersection in Huntington Beach.”

Trisha Cendejas, owner of a ballroom dancing company tucked into a strip mall on the intersection’s northwest corner, said she moved her business close to the crossroads hoping it would act as a magnet to commuters creeping past.

To the north, in Beverly Hills, Alison Jimenez sat working at the Budget-Beverly Hills Car Collection, which has a prime view of the nearly daily traffic accidents she said she sees at Wilshire and Santa Monica.

“One day a car’s going to go through that window,” she said, pointing to the floor-length glass facing the crossroads.

State Farm compiled its list by comparing insurance claims from policyholders at thousands of street and highway intersections. Taking the number of claims, researchers worked out an estimate for total crashes by taking into account the percentage of cars insured by State Farm in the surrounding areas.

Those methods drew fire from many traffic officials, who argued that the study is unlikely to provide an accurate picture.

“To me it sounds like they’ve worked out which are the most dangerous intersections for State Farm, not necessarily for the public at large,” said John Standiford, spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

But officials at the Bloomington, Ill.-based company defended the study. “There is certainly room for error,” said State Farm spokesman Dick Luedke, “but we believe that it’s pretty close.”

The study is meant to provoke debate on how to improve dangerous intersections, said Luedke, and State Farm has offered up to $4.4 million to help cities singled out conduct studies and improvements at the sites.

In California, intersection accidents accounted for about 20% of fatal collisions during 1997, the latest figures available, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Local traffic officials said the Beverly Hills intersection has not seen a fatal crash for a decade, while the Orange County crossroads has suffered only one in three years. Memorials to that crash on Brookhurst and Adams were still visible Wednesday morning.

A white cross, painted on a light pole outside the Shell gas station, marked the spot where Kristina Bridges was killed three years ago. Artificial flowers were tied around the post’s base with a purple bow.

The 17-year-old had fallen asleep at the wheel; her car veered off the road and slammed into the post.

“It was her own fault,” said her grandfather, Perry Bridges. “Most of the accidents have nothing to do with the intersection. It’s the drivers. It’s people speeding. It’s people running red lights.”

In Huntington Beach, motorists recommended precautions to make the corner safer, including longer red lights and heavier enforcement of red-light jumpers.

The city has won a county grant of $250,000 to add right-turn lanes at the intersection. But Sary Zeim, a traffic engineer working as a consultant to State Farm, said the city might also consider eliminating some of the driveways leading to surrounding shops.

The Huntington Beach intersection, with 25 crashes reported to police in 1998, fails even to rank even as the most accident-prone in the city, said interim Transportation Manager Tom Brohard.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Dangerous Drives

A Huntington Beach intersection ranked sixth-worst on a list of the most dangerous U.S. intersections in 1998, according to State Farm Insurance:

Ten Most Dangerous Intersections in the U.S.

City: Addison, Texas

Intersection: Belt Line Road and Midway Road

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 263

*

City: Plano, Texas

Intersection: Park Road and Preston Road

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 249

*

City: Schaumburg, Ill.

Intersection: Golf Road and Roselle Road

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 244

*

City: Beverly Hills

Intersectio: Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds.

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 242

*

City: Dallas, Texas

Intersection: Belt Line Road and Preston Road

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 241

*

City: Huntington Beach

Intersection: Adams Avenue and Brookhurst Street

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 232

*

City: Sacramento

Intersection: Fair Oaks Blvd. and Watt Avenue

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 212

*

City: Clearwater, Fla.

Intersection: Sunset Point Road and U.S. 19

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 211

*

City: Las Vegas, Nev.

Intersection: Rainbow Blvd. and Sahara Avenue

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 207

*

City: Chesterfield, Mich.

Intersection: Gratiot Avenue and 23 Mile Road

Estimated 1998 crashes*: 204

* Based on State Farm claims multiplied by a factor keyed to percentage of vehicles insured by State Farm in the metropolitan areas where intersections are located.

Source: State Farm Insurance

Action Intersection

Huntington Beach’s Brookhurst Street and Adams Avenue intersection is the sixth most dangerous in the U.S. Crowded on all corners by strip malls and a filling station, the intersection is loaded with traffic lanes and entrance/exit driveways.

Right-of-way violations, improper turns and excessive speed accounted for most of the mishaps at the intersection in 1998. There were no deaths last year:

Preliminary Safety Suggestions

1. Caution lights to warn of impending intersection

2. Fresh paint for traffic/turn lanes

3. Consolidate driveways

Sources: State Farm Insurance, transportation engineer Sany Zein, Huntington Beach Police Department