On Thursday April 2nd, I was driving on N 42nd Street towards Wallingford Ave N when I saw what appeared to be the aftermath of a car accident on Wallingford. There was a black SUV with some pretty bad damage to the front and a girl on the sidewalk crying with a woman.
I thought it was strange because my husband had just witnessed an accident at Wallingford and N 41st in December with a car in a truck, but they have the best lawyers for truck accidents which helped in this situation. Facing the aftermath of a truck collision can be challenging, but a Georgia truck accident lawyer can help you pursue justice and compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages. Contact The Ruth Law Team for expert legal advice. In fact, that same week in December my husband saw the aftermath of a car/bicycle accident on Densmore Ave N not too far away. Accident victims may contact an Injury law firm to help them seek compensation. A Milwaukee truck accident lawyer has the necessary expertise and experience that can help protect the rights of accident victims.
I requested data on car accidents for the intersection of Wallingford Ave N and N 41st and N 42nd Streets. WSDOT were able to give me the data from 1/1/2001 until 1/10/2015. Only nine accidents have occurred at those two intersections during the time cited, yet three of them are within the last six months. Those three were all at N 41st Street. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence that there are several accidents now where their weren’t before. Or perhaps things are getting worse. A crosswalk was installed at that across Wallingford Ave N recently, but I’m not sure how that would cause the surge in accidents. If you are involved in an accident in California or any other place, contact an expert lawyer immediately to help you out.
I asked Brian Dougherty, Senior Transportation Planner at the City of Seattle Department of Transportation, his thoughts. He wrote:
There have been three collisions reported at 41st all of which occurred in the past year. While this is not out of the ordinary for a typical arterial street intersection, I did take a look to see if there was a pattern to the three collisions. One involved an impaired driver. All three involved people who did not stop at the stop sign or yield right-of-way to traffic on Wallingford. So I looked at the stop signs and it appears both are fairly new, in good condition and visible to drivers as they approach the intersection. There are curb bulbs on Wallingford which should aid in visibility.
My personal theory, and I freely admit to having no factual basis to back this up, is that my neighborhood is serving as a parking lot for the many businesses and construction sites in lower Wallingford and on Stone Way. With the increased traffic this sort of thing is bound to happen. What do you think?
I know my neighborhood off of 40th between Stone and Aurora serves as a parking lot to commuters catching the 26X and construction workers, but I haven’t noticed an increase in accidents.
I think that it is a fact that I see drivers in cars slide through the stop sign. Especially on 41st. Frequently with kids in the car.
1. I am surprised there are not more collisions on Wallingford/44th and 43rd. Cars are parked right up to the corner on W’ford. If you are approaching from the west, you can’t see approaching cars in the lane (southbound on W’ford) unless you pull half way out in the the right of way traffic.
2. Wallingford Ave is a speedway, especially going south.
I am well aware of the 41st problem. Signs were put up with several “mini stop sign” warnings all in a row. Since my mind is programmed to stop at any stop sign I find myself stopping several times before the real stop signs. I am afraid that someone might rear end me one of those times thus far not happened. I know those signs were put up because the overpass over Aurora at 41st & the students going to school don’t walk to the crosswalk at 40th and parents were concerned. My question is if they are old enough to walk to school alone they are capable of watching their crossing.
After that confused it gets more confusion. If you are going downhill on Stone Way & wish to continue you have to move left to center. Add all the construction and detours on Stone Way.
I know that the way-finding app Waze often routes me onto 41st to avoid the stoplight at Stone & 40th when heading east from the north. Maybe there are more folks taking side streets due to apps like this, and they aren’t paying as much attention to the stop signs, etc., because they’re listening to their phones telling them what to do?
I’m curious at what time of day these accidents happened. My non-expert theory is parents picking up/dropping off their children at Hamilton & Lincoln, who don’t live in the area, drive like jerks. I live between the schools, and am always shocked at the way these people drive. I’ve almost been hit by these people, I wonder where their concern for the kids lies. It’s like there’s a disconnect that there’s children around, even though they just dropped off their own. I had a friend who lived across the street from Hamilton, and he said parents would argue with him when he’d try to get out of his driveway. There just seems to be this mentality that everybody’s schedule is more important than the people they are encountering, and eventually somethings going to blow.
Lots of contributing factors to the increased traffic, as we all try to get from Point A to Point B.
When it comes to accidents in our neighborhood, I’d say the single biggest one is people driving too fast, whether zooming down Wallingford or up Stone Way, tailgating on 40th, 34th, Northlake, etc., or as noted, sliding through stop signs or failing to yield the right-of-way.
On those occasions that I drive, I sense a growing likelihood that I’ll be rear-ended because I’m slowing down with the intention to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk…and the car behind me is way close and going way too fast.
And as a pedestrian, I congratulate myself each time I make it to my bus stop in one piece. Extra credit if I haven’t had a near miss with a reckless/speeding driver (or bicyclist). Makes you grateful! 🙂
It’s simple. If a pedestrian is at a marked crosswalk or unmarked crosswalk a wheeled vehicle stops (this includes bicycles). If the light is red for cars at crosswalk pedestrian may walk.
The signs going south on Stone Way are confusing. There is a trail of signs with miniature stop signs on them. I find myself braking at each one by reflex. I worry I might get rear ended by someone as I do this. Then the real stop sign is anticlimactic and lose it’s impact.
Just the other week I saw a car proceed accross Wallingford Avenue without stopping at the stop sign. I think it might have been heading East on 41st.
IMO, part of the problem is that most of the side streets have no stop signs and people just cruise through not realizing they are at a intersection with a stop sign. When traveliing North on a side street, I’ve noticed that I have to be extra aware that I’m coming onto 40th, as I’ve almost missed a stop sign in the past.
I agree that part of the problem is that people do not stop at the stop signs and that there are not enough stop signs on side streets. New construction and people not used to drive in the neighborhood exacerbate the problem.
@7 Karen, I fully agree with you that the crosswalk laws are simple.
Many laws are simple. Still, people disregard them, whether through ignorance, selfishness, disregard for others, or whatever. That’s behavior, and for whatever reason, for some people the simplicity of the law isn’t a consideration: they just do what they want to.
All I know is that as a driver or pedestrian, I need to be on high alert when I approach a crosswalk. I THINK there has been some improvement on Stone Way but again, I see speeding as the #1 contributing factor to risk and accidents.
I agree with neighbor2u and Seattlejo.
I also believe this is a byproduct of the inceased developments and construction which this board and the neighborhood invited and supported. i recall many conversations on here when more were for all the development and kolokolo was told if he did nto like development to move.
There is an apt building being refurbished 1 block from me. I was almost hit by a large truck parked by the spot as it swung from the curb without a turn signal in front of me. I drive on 45th from time to time an dhave to say I never see any vehicles of the construction workers there.. so they must all park inthe neighborhoods which puts an impact on those nearby streets fo rparking and driving density.
We live on Wallingford at 37th, near the Cantinetta restaurant. I’m all for neighborhood businesses, but I’m not going to lie – it causes problems. People want to park close to the restaurant and end up way too close to corners, so when poor schmucks like me go to cross or turn onto Wallingford, we’re flying blind. You can’t see what’s coming down Wallingford because the parked cars are too close on all sides. In the morning, when we’re loading the kids up in the car, there is a steady stream of construction trucks and vehicles zooming (very fast!) down Wallingford towards Gas Works. It’s dangerous and I’m sure we’re in for more of it as the neighborhood development continues.
So, for daranee & other commenters, an “accident” is something that happened where there was no fault. Everyone, from the drivers to the traffic-engineer who designed the road did the right thing, and it was just “one of those things”. Even if some of these crashes were genuinely “accidents”, you don’t know that, and sometimes even a detailed crash-analysis won’t be able to determine that for sure.
So, unless you somehow know these were really nobody’s fault, please use the term “crash”, “incident”, “collision”, or some other neutral terminology which neither assigns nor eliminates blame before it’s known. Seattle PD, FD, and DOT has adopted this language, as has Seattle Times when reporting these sorts of stories.
@2 & 12 Parking within 15′ of a crosswalk (marked or unmarked) is illegal, so people should be leaving ~20’+ from the corner, generally, which should make it not too hard to see cross-traffic, or for drivers to see pedestrians at corners. However, I suspect this is rarely, if ever, enforced if there’s no sign making it very explicit (and probably not even then).
Of COURSE it’s illegal to park right up to the crosswalk. It is also a law to park (I think it is 30 feet) from the corner. But that does not happen, for parking is at a premium. I would be delighted if the parking enforcement folks concentrated soley on this one issue. It is so dangerous when cars at an east/west stop sign, have to inch across one lane of traffic when entering Wallingford Ave.
Judy makes a GREAT point: increasingly prevalent route-finding apps (like Waze) may be sending drivers unfamiliar with an area down roads (like 41st) that they wouldn’t normally take.
This phenomenon is widespread, and lots of otherwise quiet neighborhoods are trying to resist it — see disgruntled LA residents here: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-california-commute-20150106-story.html
I don’t know that we can do anything about this (potential) contributing factor — it may be here to stay. Would a speed-bump or two towards the ends of 41st be helpful — combined with better signage re: how it’s illegal to park within 30′ of corners?
There’s an SDOT person out on the intersection surveying the site as I type this. Interesting.
Having lived on this corner for 18 years, I don’t think there’s been an uptick in traffic on N. 41st. Street. It used to be a lot worse when school buses tried to squeeze their way through N. 41st. every morning and afternoon. Thank goodness that’s changed. The parents dropping off and picking up their kids at Hamilton have been “quiet and orderly” lately. Every once in awhile I hear a horn blare and some nasty words exchanged…but again, you know, that’s life across the street from a school that has over 900 kids. My kid has even had to dodge a few reckless drivers twice as he walked to Hamilton in the morning. Come summer though, N. 41st is so quiet, I would even venture to let my kids ride bikes out on it during the day, before rush hour sets in.
Two things I do find alarming is 1) how many cars choose to do a u-turn at this intersection. It happens at least once a day, I swear; and 2) how many people roll through the stop sign. My guess is that drivers look at the wide expanse of N. Wallingford at N. 41st. and figure it’s an opportunity to pull a You-ey to either park southbound on Wallingford Avenue or just go about their merry way.
But, I will say that the intersection of N. 44th and Wallingford is wayyyy more dangerous. I seriously feel like I’m taking my life in my hands whenever I find myself having to make a left hand turn on to Wallingford traveling west on N. 44th. The cars parked northbound on Wallingford make it so damned difficult to see traffic coming. The same goes for coming out of the driveway at Wallingford Center. I’ve seen a car rolled over on N.44th Street because of a collision with someone traveling northbound on Wallingford Avenue (reported it here on Wallyhood some time ago). And a few months back, there was another really bad collision where medics and a hook and ladder came to the scene.
Re 44th and W’ford. Very scary.
I see 43rd/W’ford equally scary, maybe more so, cause drivers speed from W’ford onto 43rd, driving fast, going west to Lincoln. If there are cars parked on both sides of 43rd, even legally, if someone turns that corner from the north (going south on W’ford) and another car is going east on 43rd at that corner, sooner or later there will be a head on collision.
I resolve it by taking Densmore to n45h, using the lights to make all right hand turns to south on Wford, or crossing N45th on Densmore to 46th or the QFC parking lot. It is also taking your life in your hands trying to turn north from n 45th on to Wallingford ave along QFC.
I’m in the same situation as Smarie #12, entering Wallingford N from N 38th. Visibility is very poor. So far have not been hit by an approaching vehicle that I couldn’t see, but if that happened, I suppose it could be recorded in the “failure to yield” column – you’re supposed to yield to them, whether you know about them or not!
Don’t forget to look for bicycles, if you’re turning onto or across the south bound lane. They can get going pretty fast, they may not have the best stopping capability, they’re harder to see and they’ll be out of sight behind the parked cars until the last second.
The theory that this has anything at all to do with construction not only has no evidence, it’s patently wrong. No self-respecting contractor is going to park at 41st and Wallingford, because there’s no construction anywhere near there. If you were talking about 38th and Stone that would make sense, or 35th and Wallingford. But this is a long way from where those sites are.
It might be random and of course it might be just one or two impatient and careless drivers.
#13 respectfully, this is a comments board, not a peer-reviewed journal. lighten up on the grammar/usage patrol. you know what people mean.
regarding the many comments about people parking too close to the corner and making it difficult to pull out, this is also a problem on Latona Ave. Coming from the downhill side, traveling west, I have often thought it is actually breaking the laws of physics how impossible it is to see oncoming traffic. the larger the vehicle at the corner, the harder it is to see around it.
perhaps a neighborhood project for next year would be getting these dangerous intersections identified and addressed?
I think it would be really helpful to have more curbs marked so that drivers know where it is legal to park. I remember when it was common to have the curb red near hydrants and yellow near stop signs. I haven’t seen this in Seattle in ages.
Perhaps it is a trend. However when looking at statistics you must look at a large sample size which means long in terms of time. In other words you will see data in smaller sample sizes which do not appear to be random at all but they are indeed and that’s the norm rather than the exception.
Evon. It’s been a long time since I took statistics or methods of research! But I can tell you one anecdotal fact! There are a MANY more cars speeding up/down Wallingford now than there were 10 years ago!.