Increase in Vehicular Accidents on Broward Counties' I-595

According to a recent article from the Sun Sentinel there has been an increase in the number of accidents on I-595 since construction re-commenced in February of 2010. While the construction is intended to ultimately improve the flow of commuter traffic over this highly accesses east to west, west to east corridor, needless to say anytime significant construction occurs adjacent to a roadway the likelihood of crashes rise.

T he area over I- 595’s travel is no stranger to danger. During the highway’s initial construction there were many detours that motorists needed to manage while portions of the overpasses and highway were being completed. During those early days many vehicles found it difficult to traverse through the various detours. Unfortunately at times, construction crews neglected to properly warn of lane changes and set up appropriate barriers. It was not uncommon for a vehicle to literally fly off the roadway into an unfinished construction site.

While the current project should not be replete with the same dangers as those which the originals commuters were exposed to, this particular project still requires certain areas of the highway to be narrowed and it will likely eliminate certain recovery areas; particularly adjacent to the median lanes of travel. It is anticipated that by close of 2010 the entire corridor from 1-75 stretching east to state road 7 (441) will be under construction. It is reported that crashes have increase by approximately 10% since construction began.

The project has every intention to keep traffic flow moving as swiftly as possible. The project has incentivized towing companies to clear major wrecks in 90 minutes or less or inflict penalties if they fail to do so. The project is titled Rapid Incident Scene Clearance for removing wrecks involving big rigs and hazardous fuel spells that can close or block lanes for excessive periods of time. Nevertheless despite some rather serious spills, for instance an over turned dump truck earlier this week, the Rapid Incident Scene Clearance has not been deployed since 2009 even though the cleanups took an excessive of 90 minutes.

If one is involved in an accident on I-595 and they suspect that the ongoing construction process may have played a role in the accident you may wish to consult with the Fort Lauderdale Injury Lawyer at info@www.schulaw.com or by calling 1-877-529-0444.