It took all of a few minutes for the comments to start rolling in Thursday after we posted a story to our website about intersections in Penticton with the highest rate of vehicle accidents (Crash data reveals Penticton's most dangerous intersections).
The intersection at Industrial Avenue and Main Street made it the city’s most danger intersection in 2013 with 15 accidents, according to new data from the Insurance Corporation of B.C. The intersection of Channel Parkway and Fairview Road was second on the list with 13 crashes
The comments blamed the design of the intersections for the high rate of accidents, absolving drivers of any blame.
But when asked about the intersections, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Martin Trudeau said there is nothing inherently dangerous about any of the intersections on the list.
“An intersection is an intersection is an intersection,” said Trudeau.
“All intersections are safe, because they’re built according to code, they’ve got lights, all that kind of stuff.
“I think what makes it unsafe is how (busy) traffic will be at a particular intersection if there’s a mall nearby or that kind of stuff.
“So what makes it unsafe is not the intersection itself, it’s the people driving.”
What this means is people are not paying close enough attention as they approach and go through the intersection, or are going through the intersection too fast.
In other words, we are the problem, not the design of the intersection. The problem would be less critical if drivers slowed down and paid attention.
Slowing down is always a good thing.