Staten Island's Verrazano Bridge leads New York City Bridges in Accidents
It comes as no surprise to the thousands of Staten Island resident who travel across the Verrazano Bridge everyday that the crossing holds the inglorious title of having the most accidents of all Metropolitan Transit Authority crossings. The Verrazano saw an alarming increase of 57 accidents in 2009 than in 2008, an accident rate so high that it has been labeled a "hot spot" by MTA officials.
As a Staten Island car accident attorney, I have many clients who were involved in car accidents on the bridge and they most always happen at the same spot. Anyone who has driven over the bridge knows that the the Brooklyn-bound upper level has more than its fair share of accidents. The problem is in the design of the bridge. In order to allow ships to pass underneath, the center of the span rises 233 feet above the water. The roadway deck arches so that when you first enter the Brooklyn bound lanes, you need to keep your foot on the gas pedal to keep up your speed. As you reach the center of the span, your foot remains on the gas pedal and your speed increases as you start heading downward. At that same point, you usually encounter traffic in the left lane, waiting to enter the Belt Parkway. The middle lane slows down because some driver's wishing to exit onto the belt parkway fail to realize that they need to get over so quickly. The combination of downhill momentum and cars quickly slowing down, causes the frequent rear-end chain reaction collisions.
Now that the bridge has been marked as a "hot spot", how do you prevent the accidents? Driver's need to be aware of the danger zones on the bridge and understand that the 45 m.p.h. speed limit is posted for your safety. Police need to better enforce the speed limit and officials need to make an effort to advise drivers that you are now able to access the Belt Parkway from the lower level in an attempt to reduce the volume of traffic waiting to get on the Belt Parkway from the upper level. We, as driver's and residents, need to slow down. In a previous posting I wrote about how Staten Island's streets are more akin to highways. Many residents seem to feel that the laws and limits don't apply to them. Its this type of behavior that helped to win the Verrazano another notorious title.
