Decatur/Sahara called Las Vegas’ worst intersection

Wednesday, June 27, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

The intersection at Decatur Boulevard and Sahara Avenue was named the most dangerous in Nevada today by a State Farm Insurance survey.

However, that intersection did not come close to breaking into the nationwide top 10, as Rainbow Boulevard and Sahara did in State Farm's 1999 survey, said State Farm regional spokesman Jim Kriznauski in Phoenix.

The survey found that Pembroke Pines, Fla., had the most dangerous intersection in America, at Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard, scoring 2,568 points on the State Farm index. By comparison, Decatur and Sahara scored 1,897.

The State Farm index factors in the number of accidents, the severity of injuries and amount of property damage. It multiplies that number by the percentage of vehicles insured by State Farm near a particular intersection.

Police reports were not used, as in other studies, Kriznauski said, because an estimated 40 percent of accidents do not involve police investigations. State Farm, which insures about 20 percent of the nation's vehicles, based its findings instead on its 1999-2000 accident claims.

Las Vegas' Flamingo Road at Decatur is Nevada's second most dangerous intersection, according to State Farm, which gave it a score of 1,808. The third worst intersection in Las Vegas, according to the State Farm survey, is Buffalo Drive at Lake Mead Boulevard, scoring 1,718 points.

Rainbow and Sahara, the ninth most dangerous intersection in the United States in the 1999 State Farm survey, did not make the Nevada list this time around.

State Farm also is offering advice to repair intersection problems and money -- up to $20,000 per intersection -- for safety studies.

Kriznauski said in many cases, minor changes to intersections, such as lowering the height of traffic lights or shortening the length of green lights, can significantly reduce the number of accidents.