Dangerous Intersection at Richmond Road and Todt Hill Road

SILive.com is reporting a second accident in as many months at the busy intersection of Richmond Road and Todt Hill Road. The intersection is unique in that the left-turn people make onto Todt Hill from the northbound Richmond Road turning lane is about a 20 – 25-degree turn. In reality, its not really a turn at all. What this “turn” encourages drivers to do is to cut the turn early in an attempt to beat the changing traffic light. Drivers heading southbound on Richmond Road, when faced with a yellow traffic light, do the expected and speed up before the light turns red, putting the cars on a collision course that all too frequently results in an accident.

Thankfully, the intersection is not frequented by pedestrians. Imagine a pedestrian trying to finish crossing the street and one of those drivers cutting the turn to beat the light? Or a car that jumps the curb and hits someone waiting at the bus stop on the corner. That’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

Slow down. Wait for the green light to make the turn. Its only a few moments. In fact, when the light turns green again, you will have a left arrow and be able to turn traffic-free. Unfortunately, if the City of New York gets involved, in trying to eliminate the accidents, you can be rest assured that a speed camera or red light camera will be installed. Instead of physically preventing these accidents, Staten Island residents will continue to fund the City’s budget shortfalls by paying fines.

My office has successfully represented Staten Island residents injured in car accidents at that intersection. We have conducted thorough investigations of that intersection using experts to map out the intersection and to even determine the timing of the traffic signal in order to obtain maximum compensation for our clients.