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Deadly accidents near 50 and Chipman,...
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Deadly accidents near 50 and Chipman, Lee's Summit, demonstrate need for safety changes
Nov. 5, 2010
By Debbie Van Pelt, News Editor
For the second time in just 10 days, someone was killed in a cross-over car crash on U.S. 50 Highway near Chipman Road. In both cases, westbound drivers crossed over the median, crashing into eastbound traffic. There were no guard rails, barriers or safety cables to protect oncoming motorists. That’s something Tom Evans, District Traffic Engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), certainly wishes could have been corrected before these tragedies occurred.
On Monday morning, 49-year-old Cozzette Latimerm of Kansas City was killed when Juan L. Cardoza-Guizar’s westbound white van veered to the left, crossed the median and crashed into Latimer’s passenger car. The crash happened at approximately 6:40 a.m., and Latimer was pronounced dead at the scene. Cardoza-Guizar was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, and was later charged with careless driving and driving without a license, according to Sgt. Chris Depue, Public Information Officer for the Lee’s Summit Police Department.
Just 10 days prior to Latimer’s November 1 crash, a young father, 23-year-old Mark W. Prigge of Blue Springs, was killed when his westbound Jeep crossed the median on U.S. 50 Highway near Third Street, striking a large cattle truck. The October 22 crash was approximately one mile from the November 1 wreck. After the eastbound cattle truck was struck by Prigge’s Jeep, it crossed into the westbound lanes, causing a third vehicle to swerve and strike a guard rail. Prigge died at the scene. The other victims were not seriously hurt. The cause of Prigge crossing the median is unknown.
On Wednesday of this week, there were two more crashes on U.S. 50 Highway near Chipman Road, although the cars did not cross the median. The first accident happened when a car was merging onto 50 Highway from Chipman. No one was injured in that accident. As traffic was backing up because of that accident, two other cars were involved in a rear-end collision. There were minor injuries in the second crash.
MoDOT’s Tom Evans said cable barriers are 96 – 97% effective at preventing cross-over crashes. Evans reported that having cable barriers installed along this area of U.S. 50 Highway “has been in the works for one and a half to two years; but, it takes time to procure funding, design and place the cables.” He said his staff has been working to obtain many, many miles of barriers for 71 Highway, Highway 169 in the Northland and Highway 50 in Lee’s Summit. Evans has placed the two-and-a–half mile section of 50 Highway at the top of the priority list. Bids will be taken, and a “Notice to Proceed” will be issued to the winning bidder next March. The cable installation work will be partly dependent on weather, but the work must by completed by the end of the summer in 2011.
Evans, an engineer by trade, likes to talk in technical terms about such things as “each ¾” cable being able to hold 25,000 pounds of tensile force”; but, he’s also able to describe the benefits of the safety cable barriers in more simple terms. “Basically, the cables are like a net. They catch or snag the vehicle and absorb the energy of the impact, whereas a concrete wall is unforgiving.” Evans further explained that a driver wearing a seat belt in a full-sized car or up to a ¾ ton pick-up truck with an operable air bag, going 60 miles per hour, should be able depart the road, hit the safety cables, open their car door and walk away from the vehicle after such a crash.
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