Painter/Philadelphia accident brings attention back to intersection

feature 1, issue 15, Jon-Paul Cook, News, Ryan Inouye - By Jon-Paul Cook on Thursday, January 27, 2011 - 04:53

After the December collision of one Whittier College student’s mother and a vehicle, as well as a recent three-car accident in the same intersection, eyes have turned toward the Painter Avenue and Philadelphia Street intersection itself for an answer.

According to Campus Safety, a vehicle carrying a canine swerved into oncoming traffic, colliding with two other vehicles and coming to a rest on the grass nearby Hoover Hall. According to the Crime Log, the dog jumping into the driver’s lap reportedly caused the accident.

“I think it would save lives to have a left-hand turn signal there,” first-year Mary Bigler said.
According to Campus Safety, normally there is not much traffic turning left from Philadelphia Street onto Painter Avenue. This lack of traffic explains the absence of a left turn signal. The only thing making up for this lack of direction for drivers is a “No Right on Red” sign.

Before the accident involving a Whittier College student’s mother on Dec 7, Campus Safety’s records do not show any vehicle-versus-pedestrian accidents for the last two years. In fact, there were only three comparable vehicle-versus-pedestrian accidents to speak of. Sept. 20, 2009 saw a similar accident on the intersection of Painter Avenue and Mar Vista Street. The Shannon Center parking lot was witness to yet another similar accident on Feb. 6, 2009 and the Mendenhall parking lot felt the shock waves of an accident on Jan. 17, 2008.

The reported near misses and recent accident occurred while pedestrians were crossing Painter from the Admissions Office to Mendenhall and a vehicle simultaneously attempted to make a left turn onto Painter. Depending on the time of day, the sun or lack thereof partially obscures drivers’ view of that crossing.

“I’ve had the same problem,” junior Daniel Wheeler said. “Everyone else that’s turning on that intersection seems to have a signal but you can’t see anything. It’s ridiculous that they don’t have something there.”

According to Whittier Police Department’s Traffic Bureau, no changes are planned for the signal makeup of that intersection.