An interactive crash database released by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia gives people an easy way to find accident-prone intersections around Penticton, where 2,146 accidents occurred between 2007 and March 31, 2012, according to the resource.
“We try to focus on the intersections that have the greatest traffic flow, and as suggested by the statistics, they seem to show that the Channel Parkway and the Main Street corridor have the most events,” said Cpl. Ted Manchulenko of the RCMP’s Penticton detachment, via email. “We have found that many of the events surround driver error.”
Manchulenko said this driver error was generally a simple mistake, such as getting distracted at an intersection, not fully stopping at a stop sign and trying to rip through an amber light at an intersection.
“A few extra seconds, a little courtesy and some common sense would make these high-risk areas better for all of us,” he said.
Lauren Nixon, who works as a delivery driver at Art Knapp’s Plantland and Flower Shop said she saw an accident just three weeks ago at what is, according to the data, the city’s most accident-prone intersection: Channel Parkway, Duncan Avenue and Parkway Place. The intersection saw 88 accidents over the four-year period, which averages out to nearly two accidents a month. Of these accidents, 34 involved injuries.
“I was coming back, and an ambulance went through the intersection and someone was turning, and someone went through, and they just collided,” she said.
Nixon said she attributes the Channel Parkway being a main road in Penticton, as well as the speed change at the intersection contributing to the accidents.
Carol Findlayson, who works at the Husky Gas Station at the intersection, said she knows why these accidents happen every day.
“Cars are constantly running through the red lights. Proof of fact, a semi honked his horn this morning because he was going through the red light. And it was red. You cannot honk and go through. And I see stuff like that all the time,” she said.
Findlayson also said she often sees people turning left at the intersection, when coming north on Main Street — an illegal manoeuvre. Sometimes, when drivers aren’t turning on the red, they’re cutting through the gas station to get to Industrial Avenue.
“I’d like to see those people dinged because they’ve almost taken me out a couple of times, and I’m going to start taking licence plate numbers and reporting them. It’s ridiculous,” she said.
To view ICBC’s accident resource, visit http://www.icbc.com/about-ICBC/news_room/icbc_facts.