Dunham v. State of Washington / 2020

The transportation engineering industry has long-recognized the potential hazard presented by a traffic signal on a high-speed expressway: cars back up at the red light, causing unexpected stopped traffic on an otherwise free-flowing highway.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has repeatedly warned of the danger of using traffic signals on highways:

It has been well-documented that adding traffic signals to unsignalized intersections will decrease angle crashes, but at the cost of increasing the frequency of rear-end crashes at the location.

On the morning of February 5, 2018, at about 6:30 a.m., Andrew Rants drove his 1999 Ford Ranger pickup westbound on SR 500 in Vancouver, on his way to work. Pamela Dunham was stopped ahead on the highway due to a traffic signal at the intersection of SR 500 and NE 54th Avenue that was red and resulted in traffic backing up approximately 3/4 of a mile. Ms. Dunham was on her way to work.

As Mr. Rants came over a rise and slight curve at an overpass on SR 500 near the Andresen Road on-ramp, he did not see the brake lights of the cars ahead of him in time to stop. He attempted to veer to the left shoulder of the road, but was unsuccessful. His pickup smashed into Pamela Dunham’s stopped 1997 Ford Crown Victoria at highway speed. The crash left her paraplegic.

State Route 500 is a busy, multiple-lane highway with two westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes. The highway serves as a primary high-speed east-west connection between I-5 and I-205. Prior to November 2018, queues to get through the stop light at the intersection of SR 500 and NE 54th Avenue frequently caused westbound traffic on SR 500 to back up over a half-mile east. During the period 2012 to 2016, 193 rear-end crashes occurred on SR 500 at the approach to this intersection.

A simple solution had long been available to WSDOT to eliminate the inherently dangerous conditions created by the traffic signals on SR 500. A “right-in, right-out” intersection design eliminates the traffic signal, closes off the median with a barrier, and restricts movements to or from the intersecting street (NE 54th Ave.) to right turns only. A “right-in, right-out” intersection design allows traffic on SR 500 to flow freely rather than being stopped on a regular basis by a traffic signal, and eliminates the significant danger of rear-end collisions that comes with a traffic signal on a high speed freeway.

WSDOT Southwest Region Planning Director wrote the following in July 2018:

The work to address the crashes on SR 500 is relatively simple – barrier installation, removal of signal heads and posts, restriping and channelizing traffic movements. The simplicity of the work means that design work is simple and costs are low such that work could be completed before the rain sets in this fall. This presents WSDOT with the question: if we can reduce the number of crashes sooner, why wouldn’t we? Safety is a top priority for WSDOT.

Pamela would be walking with her children and grandchildren today had WSDOT implemented a simple “right-in, right-out” solution. Instead, she is wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life.