Police name top crash intersections in Buffalo Grove
Three of the top five accident-prone intersections in Buffalo Grove involve Lake-Cook Road, according to Buffalo Grove police.
Buffalo Grove police Sgt. Mike Rodriguez said the top five intersections are:
• Lake-Cook Road at McHenry Road.
• Lake-Cook Road at Arlington Heights Road.
• Lake-Cook Road at Buffalo Grove Road.
• Buffalo Grove Road at Short Aptakisic Road.
• Arlington Heights Road at Dundee Road.
Rodriguez said in 2013 there were 1,400 traffic crashes in the village. More than 1,000 of those were on Buffalo Grove roadways - the rest consisting of crashes on private property, like grocery store parking lots.
Rodriguez said every crash is put into the village's GIS system and plotted on a village map.
He said Wheeling residents accounted for 16 percent of the crashes, with Arlington Heights residents at 15 percent and Buffalo Grove residents at 14 percent.
The biggest month for crashes is April and the heaviest day is Thursday.
He said the biggest cause of crashes is failure to yield while turning left.
"They are difficult citations to fine and to issue, because generally speaking when we have police officers at intersections, people tend to yield to those that are coming on to it," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said people just need to be more cautious and more aware.
"What we need to do this year is to get the word out that says if you're going to turn left, you've got to watch it. You've got to watch the driver that's coming on to you," he said.
"You've got to slow down, if you're entering the intersection, and anticipate the person turning left - anticipate if they're going to turn left in front of you. And if you're turning left, you have to anticipate what that driver is doing. That's going to help to prevent a lot of crashes."
He said about 20.5 million cars go through the intersection of Lake-Cook and McHenry Road annually, but there were only 24 crashes there in 2013.
In 2011, Buffalo Grove Road and Short Aptakisic Road was the top crash intersection. In 2013, it had an annual traffic volume of 8.3 million and 17 crashes, which makes it home to the highest crash rate of the five most dangerous intersections, if not the most crashes.
The problem has been drivers failing to yield as they go from Short Aptakisic onto Buffalo Grove Road, police said.
Police addressed the problem by putting police on motorcycles and squads on the median of the intersection, Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the solution to reducing the number of crashes involves engineering, education and enforcement.
He said the plan for police includes high visibility at intersections, plus seat belt enforcement and distracted driving enforcement zones.
Village Manager Dane Bragg said an engineering solution is looming at Buffalo Grove and Short Aptakisic roads, as part of Phase II of the Weiland Road/Lake-Cook Road improvement project.
This will include the realignment of Short Aptakisic, he said.