ODOT: Inattention To Blame For Crashes

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Another serious accident happened along a stretch of 46th Street North, also called Port Road.  There have been enough accidents to prompt questions about the safety of the road.

On Tuesday, The News On 6 asked for the records and discovered 16 accidents on a one mile stretch of the roadway in the last five years.  Despite the number of accidents, the records support ODOT's claim that it's not a problem with the road.

It happened again on Tuesday with a chain reaction accident on 46th Street North near the Rogers County line.  The latest accident left three men hurt and it happened because a driver didn't see a truck stopped in front of him.

Accidents are not uncommon on the stretch of 46th Street North from Highway 169 to the Port of Catoosa.       

ODOT doesn't believe anything is wrong with the road.

"There's plenty of sight distance in both directions.  It's open and flat," said ODOT's Marty Stewart.

ODOT's records show 8,700 vehicles use the highway each day.  It's heavily used by commuters and by trucks hauling rocks and trash.

Many of the accidents on the road involve drivers speeding or following too closely.  That, coupled with the volume of heavy trucks on the road, leads to accidents that can be very serious.

In 2002, slick roads were blamed for a collision between a dump truck and semi.  In 2003, a man died when his pickup crashed into the rear of a dump truck.  The next day another person died in a head on collision while trying to pass another car.

On Monday morning, a small pickup rear ended a dump truck.

ODOT responded to the crashes by adding flags to speed limit signs and posting signs warning about passing on the right.

"Everything dealing with that little stretch of road has been looked at and we just don't find anything that needs repairing," said ODOT's Marty Stewart.

ODOT was asked if widening the road might help and they don't believe the traffic warrants that.  Again, they point to carelessness listed by police as a factor in almost all the crashes.

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