What it means and why it's not the whole story
When you hear the term "dangerous intersection" you likely think of an intersection where there are a lot of accidents year after year.
But a northern Michigan intersection has earned that title even though it has not had a deadly accident in the last 5 years.
Still, that title allows it to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding.
A viewer wondered why, the answers we found are the subject of tonight's Fact Finder Report.
Silver Lake and Zimmerman in Grand Traverse County is one of the most dangerous intersections in the state, at least on paper.
Heather Jamison, PE Grand Traverse County Highway Engineer says "it’s just strictly based on statistics."
The federal government requires the state to compile crash data and list the top 5% of intersections that exhibit the most severe highway safety needs in Michigan.
For this 5% report, the state measures safety needs by the number of accidents that were deadly, or left victims incapacitated.
Jamison says, "You can have an intersection that has a lot of accidents but they're all property damage accidents, they won't end up on the 5% list."
The intersection of Zimmerman and Silver Lake Roads in Grand Traverse County got on the 5% list after a 2006 accident. A woman and her 11 month old child were killed when their car was hit by a fire truck that went through the intersection on its way to an emergency.
Because the intersection was on the 5% list, it was eligible for $180,000 in federal funding to make safety upgrades. Now crews are modernizing the signal, adding flashing yellow arrows and LED lights.
But these improvements might not have changed the outcome of the very crash that allowed the county to qualify for the upgrades.
Jamison says, "I don't know if it would have prevented that accident but the way the 5% determined is based on statistics."
So what do you think about this? More modern signals would likely not have kept a fire truck from going through an intersection, but now that accident allowed the county to make improvements there.
Do you know of another intersection that could have used that money? Leave your thoughts below.
And if you'd like to check out the 5% list for yourself, here's a link.
