Causes of wrecks consistent

May 16, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Palmer-Wasilla Highway traffic may have increased in recent years, but the number of crashes and the reasons for them appear to be consistent from year to year.

Each law enforcement agency keeps its own records of calls to traffic crashes, but the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities archives reports from each agency, plus any self-reported fender benders. The DOT statistics from 2002 to 2004 are the most complete records for those three years, but the department stats for 2005 aren't yet complete.

For 2005, stats reflect records compiled by Alaska State Troopers, which included only the 99 crashes handled by troopers on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway from Jan. 1 to Sept. 13, 2005. Trooper data end with a fatality, a crash that closed the highway for about three hours.

About 3 p.m. that day, a 1985 Chevrolet Van heading east on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway swerved into the oncoming lane and hit the side of a Ford F-550 work truck. Kim Critchlow, 41, the van's driver died there, near the intersection of Laurel Dive. The driver of the Ford, Kevin Farrelly, 38, of Anchorage was treated for minor injuries at Valley Hospital and released.

The press release didn't say that the day was sunny, warm and beautiful, but weather couldn't have been a factor in the crash. Troopers couldn't say why Critchlow veered into the oncoming lane.

According to DOT stats, there were 391 reported crashes along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway from 2002 through 2004. Of those, 34 involved major injuries and two fatalities.

DOT provides information on the road surface conditions, whether it was daylight or dark, the number of vehicles and people involved and the location of the wreck. Those statistics, when possible, also note the direction the vehicles traveled, human factors in all the vehicles involved and whether or not drugs or alcohol were a factor.

In some ways, these are mini-stories of a bad moment in someone's life: March 27, 2003, Wednesday at 9:25 a.m., a major injury resulted from a crash at Mile 7.5 on ice, vehicle out of control, driving at an unsafe speed.

Of the 391 crashes, 304 did not involve alcohol or drugs, according to DOT. In the remaining 87, two crashes involved both drugs and alcohol, one involved just drugs and the rest were blank spaces, not a confirmed yes or no.

The litany of drivers' actions listed as a primary cause of a crash on the highway is repetitive. Unsafe speed, driver inattention, driver inexperience, red-light violation and failure to yield repeat again and again.

According to Scott Thomas, DOT highway safety engineer, as roads become more crowded, drivers become more aggressive and their behavior veers to risky.

And a fatal crash such as Critchlow's doesn't seem to be a cautionary tale that changes drivers' behaviors. Lt. Rick Roberts directed traffic that sunny day in September.

&#8220As far as collisions, society shares a great deal of the blame,” Roberts said. &#8220When directing traffic at 49th State Street on crash day, about half the people were talking on their cell phones, and most of them to the point of being so distracted as to not follow my directions.”

According to trooper reports, there were 117 collisions reported on the Palmer-Wasilla in 2002, and 130 each in 2003 and 2004.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.