INTERSTATE 55 SPOTS ARE TOP ACCIDENT SITES

Three locations on Interstate 55 were among the city's top four accident spots in 1991.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department Friday released its list of the top 10 accident locations of the past year.

Police logged the most accidents, 22, on I-55 between Route 74 and Nash Road. The second-most accidents, 21, occurred on Broadway between Park Avenue and West End Boulevard.

That stretch of Broadway is a popular cruising route for area youth and routinely makes the top 10 list.

The city's third top 10 accident location was I-55 at North Kingshighway and its fourth was I-55 at Route K. The locations had 19 and 16 accidents, respectively. The latter location ranked first on the top 10 list in 1990 with 31 accidents. A traffic light was installed at the location in late 1990.

Sgt. Al Moore said no surprises existed with the top 10 locations. The city, he said, expected to pick up accidents on its section of the interstate, which it annexed in August 1989.

Moore, who head's the police department's traffic division, estimated that about 50 percent of the accidents at the locations are rear-end collisions. Most of the collisions result from people not paying attention to their driving, he said.

Also, he said, the number of accidents increase when there is a change from good weather to rain or snow and motorists don't adjust their driving quickly enough.

"When driving conditions deteriorate, they need to slow down and people don't slow down until it's too late," he said.

The other top accident locations and number of accidents, in descending order, were:

Kingshighway at William, 16.

Independence between Clark and Kingshighway, 13.

Kingshighway between Bessie and Broadway, 13.

Missouri Route K at Silver Springs, 13.

Broadway between Perry Avenue and Whitelaw, 12.

Independence at Kingshighway, 12.

The last five locations did not make the list in 1990.

As for Broadway at Clark, a location often criticized by motorists, Moore said the site is the scene of "a lot of close calls."

At the site, Broadway abruptly changes from two eastbound lanes to one.

Moore said he believes the accidents that do happen there aren't enough to make it a high-accident location.