Douglas Horn, an Independence, Missouri lawyer, published the 20 most dangerous intersections for 2012 in the Kansas City area. Following is an excerpt from an interview with Mr. Horn.
In putting together the list, I relied upon 2012 accident data and my professional experience over the past 20 years handling a wide variety of motor vehicle accidents in the Kansas City area. During that time, I have investigated and reconstructed intersection accidents and have gained a great deal of experience in factors that contribute to making an intersection dangerous.
This past Monday I was featured on the Fox 4 TV morning news. During the news segment “Defensive Driving Tips“, I highlighted 3 of Kansas City’s most dangerous intersections. The news segment included map diagrams and alerted viewers to tips to stay safe when approaching and moving through both interchanges and intersections.
Based on the crash data, the intersection of I-70 and I-435 topped our list as the most dangerous. However, because of significant improvements made to the highways just prior to the MLB All-Star game, I expect this intersection to rate considerably more safe in 2013. Merging onto either highway has been improved and the exit ramp from I-435 to I-70 was re-built to ease traffic congestion.
Second, I pointed out that the I-29/64th Street intersection is the second most dangerous intersection because 64th Street was not designed to handle the volume of traffic brought on by the development leading into Parkville. Hopefully, city officials will take notice and will make plans to improve the traffic capacity. Afternoon rush hour congestion is mostly responsible for the high rate of crashes at this intersection.
Finally, the 5th & Broadway intersection in downtown rated as the most dangerous city street intersection. Again, evening rush hour creates a hazard for drivers as both westbound 5th traffic and northbound Broadway traffic both try and access the Broadway Bridge out of downtown.
