Metro sees decline in crashes at targeted intersections

Dan Kulin

Friday, Nov. 5, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.

Metro Police's traffic safety efforts are paying off, with collisions down 18 percent during the past five months at intersections targeted by police at some time since July 1, according to a department statement released Thursday.

Since Metro's traffic enforcement program began in June, police have run patrols at 20 area intersections at different times.

Overall, the number of collisions at the targeted intersections dropped from 412 to 338, the statement said.

According to Metro figures, the number of collisions at those intersections between June 1 and Oct. 31 this year and the same period in 2003, 14 intersections, including three on the Strip, saw fewer crashes, two saw the same number of collisions, and four saw more collisions.

Capt. Vincent Cannito, who heads Metro's Transportation Safety Bureau, said the numbers show that "aggressive enforcement is the key to reducing collisions."

He also noted that intersections the police have not targeted are not seeing a decrease in collisions, and that throughout Metro's jurisdiction the number of fatal collisions involving a vehicle are on the rise.

Erin Breen, director of the Safe Community Partnership, a transportation safety outreach program at UNLV, said the results of Metro's targeted enforcement are fantastic.

Breen said that even though police are not at every intersection every day, the fact that they were at each one in force at some recent time sticks with motorists and makes them more likely to be more careful every time they go to that intersection.

"Anytime motorists think they could get caught you see a reduction in accidents," Breen said. "The best traffic safety education you can get is a traffic ticket. It makes you less likely to repeat that offense, especially at that same place."

Breen also noted that the number of collisions are on the rise overall, but said that is partly because of the increase in population.

The intersections that saw the biggest changes included Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, where the number of crashes dropped from 17 to 6; Charleston and Nellis boulevards where crashes went from 17 to 9; and Tropicana and the Strip where the number of collisions went from 40 to 24.

The intersection of Tropicana and Maryland Parkway saw an increase in collisions in October compared with Oct. 2003, as the number went from 11 to 15. Sahara Avenue and Bronco Street saw the largest percentage increase as the number of collisions there went from four to 16.

The other two intersections that saw an increase in collisions were Sahara and Valley View Boulevard, where collisions went from 11 to 15; and Rancho Drive and Jones Boulevard where the collisions increased from 11 to 15.

By analyzing accident data, the police are able to target the worst intersections, Cannito said, adding that also gives officers an indication when something more needs to be done to fix a problem intersection.

For example, at the Sahara and Bronco intersection, which is just west of Jones, police discovered that many of the collisions happened when a vehicle in a right-turn lane instead went straight and collided with another vehicle that was turning left from the oncoming direction, Cannito said.

To address that situation, police brought the problem to the attention of local government traffic engineers.

Another plus for the enforcement program, Breen and Cannito said, is that police announce where they'll be conducting enforcement activites in advance, information announced through the media and posted on Metro's Web site at www.lvmpd.com. To get to that schedule go to the Transportation Safety Bureau page on the site, and then click on "aggressive enforcement action."

Breen said if people hear where the police are scheduled to be, then they will be extra careful around that intersection.