Two people suffered personal injuries in a recent car accident in St. Joseph. The crash, like many others, happened at an intersection. Studies of car accidents have found that collisions that happen at intersections are caused by different factors than those that happen on single roads.
Car Accident Hurts Two
The incident in St. Joseph happened on the morning of Thursday, March 23, 2017, at the intersection of South Belt Highway and Pear Street. A driver in a Toyota had a green light, and was turning left onto Belt Highway from Pear Street. However, a Mitsubishi going southbound on Belt Highway ran the red light and slammed into the Toyota.
Both drivers suffered minor injuries, and were brought to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph.
According to the police, this particular intersection sees lots of car accidents like this one. It’s the last intersection on a busy stretch of South Belt Highway, so many drivers try racing through it to get to the faster roads to the south.
Intersections and Car Crashes
While it likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise to many drivers, car accidents frequently happen at intersections. Where two or more roads meet each other, drivers are presented to several options. If they’re unsure of where they want to go or are unfamiliar with the area, they can get confused and either make a wrong turn or put other drivers at risk. However, even drivers that are familiar with the area can pose a danger – passing through an intersection requires extra attention and care. Drivers that are overly-familiar with the area can leave their guard down, causing them to miss important signs of danger.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 36% of crashes are “intersection-related,” or that involve a driver turning left or right in an intersection, or passing through an intersection, immediately before the crash. Between crashes that were intersection-related and those that were not, environmental factors – like slick roads or weather – caused the crash more than twice as often when it did not happen at an intersection. When a crash happens in an intersection, this means that one of the drivers involved was far more likely to be at fault than if it happens on a single road.
St. Joseph Car Accident Attorneys at the Smith Law Office
Whether you were involved in a car accident that happened in an intersection or not, if you got hurt than you deserve to be compensated for the injuries you’ve suffered. This is especially the case if you were not the one who caused the crash.
That’s where the car accident and personal injury attorneys at the Smith Law Office can help. By legally representing both in and out of court, we can fight to ensure your rights and interests are protected, both against the driver that caused the crash, and with the insurance companies that get involved.
Call our St. Joseph law office at (816) 875-9373 or contact us online.