Smithtown Matters - Online Local News about Smithtown, Kings Park, St James, Nesconset, Commack, Hauppauge, Ft. Salonga

By Erica Jackson

Despite recent efforts by the NY State Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve safety on Main Street in Smithtown, rescue workers, had to respond to three car accidents last week.

On October 15, police say a 911 call came in after two cars crashed on West Main Street near 25A around 11:00 p.m. According to police, a car pulling out from a driveway was struck by a car heading eastbound. One of the vehicles, a pick-up truck, overturned and the driver and passengers were rescued after workers from the Smithtown Fire Department pried opened the doors. In total, four people were taken to area hospitals.

Less than two hours passed before rescue workers were called to the corner of Main Street and Lawrence Avenue. In the driving rain, a driver lost control of his car and struck a light pole at the pocket-park on the corner. Extensive damage was done to the park and one of the passengers in the car was taken to St. Catherine’s of Siena Medical Center.

The following evening, around 1:06 a.m. police were called to 413 West Main Street where two cars collided. According to police, a westbound car attempted to turn into a parking lot, but the driver lost control of the car on the wet road. The car skidded into the second car. Three people were injured in the accident, one of which could not be removed from the car until rescue workers pried one of the car doors open with heavy rescue equipment.

“We have done everything we can to engineer our roadways for the safety of pedestrians and motorists,” said Eileen Peters, spokeswoman for the DOT. “We have made a number of improvements to Main Street.”

The improvements along the 30-mile an hour road, were made after Courtney Sipes, 11 was killed crossing Main Street near Napper Tandy’s last year. Additionally, on September 30 an 80-year-old Commack woman was killed in a three-car crash on Route 25 and in 1998, three teens were killed in a crash near Old Willets Path.

According to DOT statistics, there have been 359 crashes between 2003 and 2008 on Route 25 in Smithtown. “Unfortunately,” said Peters, “more than eighty-five percent of all motor vehicle accidents are caused by driver behavior,” said Peters.

However, in an effort to improve safety, Peters said, “We have made a number of improvements to address safety of the pedestrians and make motorist more aware of the presence of pedestrians sharing the road.” Among the improvements recently made to the roadway were highly visible crosswalks for pedestrians; increased parking restrictions; additional pavement markings; reduced traffic signal cycle lengths; and increased pedestrian crossing time.

Additional improvements are in the works, including no turn on red signs, additional road signs, and the installation of a fence along the south side of Main Street between Lawrence Avenue and Landing Avenue.

Update on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 9:04PM by

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Even beside the suffering caused by injuries and deaths, the money that the nation loses because of motor vehicle crashes is enormous. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran the numbers for the latest year with complete data. The CDC’s Rebecca Naumann:

“In 2005, the total costs of crash-related injuries and deaths exceeded $99 billion. This included the cost of both medical care and productivity losses.’’

Men were more likely than women to die or be injured, and accounted for most of the costs. Teens and young adults had an outsized share of deaths, injuries and costs.

Naumann says the study underscores the need for safety, such as seat belts.

The study was in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.