Road Safety Brought Into Question Following Fatal Accident

A motorcycle rider was killed in an early-morning accident near Owasso at the intersection of 46th Street North and 129th East Avenue Monday. Police say motorcyclist was hit from behind by a car at a

Monday, May 14th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

A motorcycle rider was killed in an early-morning accident near Owasso at the intersection of 46th Street North and 129th East Avenue Monday. Police say motorcyclist was hit from behind by a car at a stop sign, and in this particular case, they say the driver of the car might have been reaching for something inside the car. But The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports people also say, in general, the road is dangerous.

Bran Whitcomb has been taking 46th Street North to and from work most every day for 10 years now. And he says during that time it's gotten busier.

"There's just a lot of traffic from the commercial businesses heading to the port, and also the people traveling to the port for work and home. It's gotten busier both ways: north and south, east and west," motorists Bran Whitcomb said.

Forty-sixth Street North is also State Highway 266. The state Department of Transportation says on average a car goes by every 10 seconds. But it's not just the number of vehicles, motorist Thomas Lindsey says it's the type of vehicles.

"It's a real busy high truck area. That's why I say if you don't have to travel it, you shouldn't be on it," driver Thomas Lindsey said.

The industrial traffic is nothing new, but they will be jockeying for position with more and more passenger cars and residents. New subdivisions are popping up everywhere nearby, including a 3,000 acre development, described as the largest planned community in the Tulsa Metro area.

Whitcomb saw Monday morning's accident. We asked him how many others he's seen.

"What I see is a lot of potential accidents. You see a lot of people trying to merge with the traffic inappropriately," said Whitcomb. "Y'know, a lot of the trucks and traffic and everything, as it picks up, the more dangerous it gets."

There are lots of busy roads out there; itâ€™s the truck traffic that makes this one a little unusual.

There are no big changes planned for the road, but it's already fairly wide with wide shoulders and good sight lines. So it's not clear what, if anything, the state could do to improve on it.

Watch the video: Fatal Accident Puts Spotlight On Busy Road