Cary Traffic Accident Claims 2 Lives
Story and photo by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – A traffic accident near my home claimed two lives on Sunday morning. It was a sobering reminder about intersections we all know are dangerous.
Sunday Crash
The accident happened when 22-year-old Martikia Adams tried to make a left from Cary Parkway onto West Chatham St. It’s a dangerous corner, one where cars coming shooting around Cary Parkway at high speed from Old Apex Road.
Ms. Adams’ vehicle was stuck by an oncoming Dodge Avenger, according to reports. The driver of the Avenger sustained minor injuries. Ms. Adams and a passenger, 26-year-old Brian Cobb, were taken to Wake Med where they died.
Cary Parkway was closed until until early evening – 5:06 PM according to official reports. Automobile fatalities require thorough investigation.
Are Fatalities the Only Measure?
Fatalities seem to be the trigger that speeds construction of a traffic light at a dangerous spot. But we all know where these spots are located.
In my neighborhood, the intersection of Waldo Rood and MacArthur Drive is a fatality waiting to happen. It’s become a high-speed cut-through from Cary Parkway to Davis Drive.
I know traffic lights are expensive, but do we have to wait until someone dies to fix a dangerous situation?
Recently, Town Council member Lori Bush wrote about See Click Fix as a way tap into citizen knowledge of the community. Maybe we need something like See Click Live so we don’t have to wait for fatalities to know where traffic lights are desperately needed.
Ever since Panther Creek High School opened there have been accidents in front of it. The entrance needs a traffic light; its that simple! The accident rate there is often as high as several a month; yet nobody has been killed yet. Therefore, studies continue, and politics are played out …. and still no light. Every morning I hear a siren near the school I say a quiet prayer that it is only a fender and not a child.
Perhaps people should stop speeding?
Heartfelt condolences go out to the families of those lost.
For a couple of years, I had to go through the W Chatham/Cary Pkwy intersection a couple of times a week. I was carpooling with another family to take our kids to gymnastics practice.
Eventually, I decided to drive two miles out of my way to go around and avoid that turn, especially from W Chatham back onto Cary Pkwy heading toward Apex.
This particular intersection has always felt dangerous to me.
It’s a very sad story and I certainly feel for the family and friends. However, I do not think that the W. Chatham / Cary Parkway intersection is a dangerous one. It definitely does not need a stop light. Accidents will inevitably happen. We do not need a knee-jerk reaction that would place lowered speed limits and/or stop lights where they’re not necessary.
I don’t know that additional stoplights are the solution at these intersections as then you have people running stoplights as they regularly do at my neighborhood’s intersection, which is a recipe for further fatal accidents.. Traffic circles are a better option. But I think the real problem is that local commuters seem to expect high-speed roads between residential neighborhoods in Cary, and the culture in Cary has been to expect that exceeding the speed limit by 7 MPH is acceptable. Town of Cary should both lower the speed limit throughout the town and effectively enforce it.