Law firm creates interactive traffic study hoping to reduce intersection crashes

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The law office of Peter Ventura used data from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Highway Division to create the area’s first interactive traffic study.

Each year, there are more than 5,000 automobile crashes in Worchester, Massachusetts. In 2015, there were 5,380 accidents, in which seven people died, 1,693 were injured and 10,359 vehicles were damaged.

The law firm hopes to reduce the number of incidents by examining the city’s 10 most dangerous intersections in 2015-2016.

“Not all traffic accidents are preventable. However, the reality is that the majority of them are. Many are simply due to driver error,” attorney Peter Ventura said. “Because these intersections in our study are notorious for motor vehicle accidents, looking at your phone, playing with the radio, or staring at something else altogether is a big ‘no, no.’ Truthfully, you shouldn’t be doing any of that no matter what road you travel, but know that your risk for injury goes up even more on the streets that made our list.”

The firm’s research discovered that the intersections with the highest number of accidents did not have the highest number of injuries.

According to the Federal Highway Association, there are approximately 2.3 million accidents annually occurring at intersections, resulting in 8,000 deaths per year.