Second collision within days at Hwy 62 interesection
Administrator | Jul 05, 2019 | Comments 17
Prince Edward OPP and emergency services responded to a second collision within days at the intersection of Hwy 62 and County Road 1.
Thursday July 4, 2019 at approximately 4:30 pm officers responded to a two vehicle collision.
Const. Karen German, Community Safety Officer, said a Dodge Caravan travelling east on County Road 1 entered the intersection and was struck by a northbound Honda Flex.
“This is the second serious collision at this intersection within a matter of days that Prince Edward OPP have investigated. There was no injuries reported with this incident.”
A 32-year-old Markham man was served a Provincial Offence Notice and has been charged with fail to yield to traffic on through highway, contrary to the Highway Traffic Act.
Three people were sent to hospital following a collision at the intersection of Highway 62 and Prince Edward County Road 1 on Canada Day Monday.
A 70-year-old from man from Weston, Ontario was issued a Provincial Offences Notice for Careless Driving – Section 130 of the Highway Traffic Act.
Filed Under: Local News
I would ask the people providing comments herein to re-read the commentary presented in the context of before and after the Humboldt tragedy. I’m not trying sensationalize this discussion but it does regretfully afford us the “what if” hindsight. Doing nothing and relying on drivers to obey the rules of the road is not a course of action, it’s the problem and the very reason this discussion is being had. Weighing safety and money together when evaluating options is a slippery slope i.e. consider this imaginary news report “a traffic circle may well have saved those 4 young lives however it was deemed too costly to install”. We already know the worst thing that could happen (sunny day … clear vision … why didn’t they stop … they should have stopped …). I would just add that before this discussion is exhausted, all concerned should write one more letter – or call – or request a meeting with the person(s) responsible for the intersection and continue to put pressure on them for review & change.
62 is a provincial highway, but that shouldn’t exempt them from employing sound safety standards – for example there are a large number of intersections that are very poorly lit and poorly marked, making night time turns coming off of 62 quite dangerous. Plus, installing left hand turn lanes would also improve the safety factor at these intersections. These “High Collision Intersection” signs do not improve the safety factor – so what is the point of having them? Add speeding and agressive behaviour into this situation should explain why the ploice are so busy.
I believe Gary Lester’s post is spot on, also I believe Hyw.62 is a provincial highway which usually doesn’t have four way stops. Vision is not restricted at this intersection so it comes down to careless driving causing these accidents, I believe charges were laid in the past two incidents.
Garry, I think that part of the problem is that there is a 4-way stop at CR-1 and CR-2. People travelling east on CR-1 come to 62 and may assume that it’s another 4-way. So they stop and then go, despite vehicles approaching on 62.
The effectiveness of traffic circles for controlling traffic speed and flow is well established worldwide. Australia, for example, employs them quite liberally. However, they are also very expensive. The solution at 62 & 1, as elsewhere, is simply to comply with our rules of the road. Had the two referenced drivers done so, there would have been no accidents. Stop signs mean STOP. It’s that simple. They don’t mean ‘slow down and yield’. They don’t mean ‘stop only if you feel like doing so today’. They don’t mean ‘don’t bother to stop if saving the required five seconds’ seems more important. The meaning is very, very simple: STOP. Problem solved. We have an epidemic of disregard in this matter. The accident statistics are mounting as a result.
Not only are a number of our intersections unclear and dangerous, I find the number of agressive drivers out there equally dangerous. Just last week, I talked to a police officer in Northport who had just ticketted a person for going 95 in a 50 zone!! When I looked surprised – he said, that is not the fastest here today – he ticketted another for doing 105 in a clearly marked 50 area – and they were not tourists! With speeding like this, no one has a chance to get out of the way or to save themself.
My safety petitions reveal that residents are much better informed and interested in public safety than our governments who we pay high taxes to, to look after family safety.
The Corporation of PEC is responsible and liable for providing safe government services to residents who pay heavily for those services, especially for safe “County roads”, which happen to be the single, most heavily used government service in the County.
I was shocked to learn that the County has never kept traffic collision records, because a sleepy County government “thought” that the OPP or MTO was doing it.
We learned years ago that those records were not available from inside or outside PEC. Unfortunately, PEC’s Traffic Committee continues to turn a blind eye to its own collision history, and refuses to begin documenting traffic incidents. Those important traffic records inform us not only about collisions and near misses in the PEC, but more importantly perhaps, identify high risk areas that contribute to those collisions.
For example, blind curves on Hwy49/CR49 are high risk, especially when drivers are allowed to pass right up to the blind curve. A provincial government constructed this horrible roadway with all of its inherent risks, which was downloaded to our PEC government, which is stuck with being responsible for managing and reducing those risks where possible. Unfortunately PEC has turned a blind eye to those risks. I submitted a proposal to the Traffic Committee months ago requesting “a no passing zone”, leading up to a blind curve on Hwy 49. My proposals to keep traffic records, and add protective signage, were refused. The County turned another blind eye to a simple and inexpensive way to lower road risks.
Where? And who pays for it? Can’t maintain what we have now.
In response to the light at the top of the town hill: Alternatively, provide a B line road for transport trucks, trailers, RV’s and construction trucks; preserve the infrastructure and reduce traffic on main street. That specific traffic doesn’t belong on main street and I’m sure we could provide an alternate route.
Putting a traffic light on the town hill shouldn’t be ruled out because of the hill…or should it? There are other examples of traffic lights on hills. Look at some of the examples in Toronto. I realize there would need to be a commitment to keeping it constantly maintained in winter months.
Just curious, who flips the bill for a traffic circle? It appears the county can’t even afford to cut back the grass and trim the sides of the roads and ditches so to expect a traffic circle might be asking too much. When does it become a safety issue when road users can’t see around corners due to lack of maintenance? Just my thoughts.
Recommendations to solve the Town Hill are welcome. You can’t stop traffic coming up the hill in the winter for sure. Should be traffic lights and a crosswalk to our Municipal building at Main St East and Paul St.
Traffic circle, simple plus slows traffic down
Think of all the people that safely pass through that intersection everyday and realize that the vast majority can deal with it. I don’t deny that the time comes where volumes get high enough to justify design or engineering improvements. We don’t get the full details into specifics but something happened there that specifically caused those recent collisions. Start with that.
If anything needs traffic safety improvements (lights) it’s that town hill in Picton. How there isn’t a thriving scrapyard located on the corner adjacent is beyond me. I now pretty much avoid it completely (thank you King Street) and I can easily find others that do as well.
Perfect location for a traffic circle.
Roundabout is the answer. Curve the entry like the one west of Picton to slow the traffic down first. Lights are unnecessary and so are stop signs. It’s 2019.
Time for a 4 way or Street Light.
It would make EVERYONE slow down & save
some injuries from happening!