(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The city of Chicago is expanding a study of safety measures to decrease the risk of accidents at intersections when drivers make left turns.
The Chicago Department of Transportation reports between 2017 and last year, about 40% of the pedestrians seriously injured or killed at intersections in the city were hit by vehicles making left turns.
In 2019, the city installed safety features including rubber speed bumps, vertical posts and “hardened” center lines at five intersections on State Street between Hubbard and Ontario.
Since then, David Smith of C-DOT says the rate of drivers yielding to pedestrians while making left turns at those intersections rose by about 15 percent.
“The speed humps and the vertical delineators really create an environment where, as a driver, you are forced to slow down when you’re making a left-hand turn. While you’re taking a slower turn, you’re taking a little bit of a wider turn and not cutting across the crosswalk.”
C-DOT is expanding its test of the safety features to 15 more intersections around the city, where there are higher rates of accidents involving drivers making left turns.
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