California Highway Patrol statistics showing that nearly
three-quarters of all fatal accidents and 95 percent of all injury
accidents it handles in the Gilroy area occur on county roads
should be a wake-up call for drivers. County roads are not
freeways.
California Highway Patrol statistics showing that nearly three-quarters of all fatal accidents and 95 percent of all injury accidents it handles in the Gilroy area occur on county roads should be a wake-up call for drivers. County roads are not freeways.
“The biggest difference between county roads and highways is the amount of distractions drivers have to deal with,” CHP spokesman Brad Voyles told reporter Zeb Carabello. “On county roads you have cars pulling out of driveways, animals running across the road, kids and delivery trucks parked on the side of the road – freeways are much more controlled driving.”
Those differences highlight why county roads are more dangerous than freeways. Wise drivers keep those differences in mind when traveling on them.
While stepped-up enforcement of drunk driving laws, speed limits and no-passing zones is always a good idea, the best way to reduce the staggering percentage of deaths occurring on Gilroy-area county roads is smart driving. In the Gilroy area, the CHP patrols U.S. 101, state highways 152 and 25, and all county roads outside city limits.
We encourage drivers to be alert to speed limit laws – because of the distractions, it’s just not safe to fly down county roads at 65 mph. If you feel the need for that kind of speed, you belong on a freeway.
No-passing zones are also key to safety on county roads. Curves, hills and other visual impairments and safety hazards are important reasons why traffic engineers have painted portions of county roads with double-yellow lines. Drivers ignore no-passing zones at their own peril and that of their passengers and the innocent occupants of the vehicles they may not be able to see heading toward them.
While no accident is fun, head-on collisions and broadside accidents, which are common on county roads, are especially dangerous. The presence of intersections and the lack of median dividers are the reasons these accidents, rather than rear-end collisions and rollovers, which are more common on highways, are often seen on county roads.
When traveling on South Valley’s scenic rural roads, please keep an eye out for distractions and obey the speed limits and no-passing zones. It just might save your life.
