Although it was quiet this morning at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Westport, a new report shows this intersection has the 17th highest number of non-fatal accidents in the city. The leading cause of accidents here is cars running the stoplight. The Kansas City Police Department has released statistics for the intersections across the city with the most traffic fatalities. Out of the 48 collisions that killed 40 people, 17 percent were in Midtown.
Kansas City traffic fatalities through September are down some from last year and not that many occurred in Midtown, police reported last week.
There were 48 collisions that killed 50 people, four fewer than at that time last year.
Eight fatal accidents – about 17 percent – were in Midtown or on its borders. Some were unusual, such a driver who fled police and crashed his car at 34th and Central streets.
In another, a rear passenger fell out of a car on 71 Highway and Linwood Boulevard and was hit by several vehicles. A pedestrian also died near 42nd Street and Prospect Avenue when he stood in the street and was hit by a vehicle.
Citywide, alcohol or drugs played a role in about a third of the fatal accidents and in about two thirds of them people were not wearing seatbelts, police reported. Almost nine out of 10 victims were male and the most common age range of victims was between 20 and 29.
That meshes with other statistics that indicate looking for the heart of Saturday night carries its risks.
By far the most common time for the accidents was from 12:01 a.m. to 4 a.m. and the most common days were Fridays and Saturdays.
I-435 and I-70 ranked first in that period with 544 accidents with a leading cause of following too close.
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