[slideshow]LYNN — The city is ranked sixth in the country for safe drivers, according to a recent study from ConsumerAffairs.
The study, “Worst Drivers in America,” used data from the United States Department of Transportation. ConsumerAffairs examined the number of fatal crashes, number of fatalities caused by bad driving, number of fatalities due to driving under the influence, and prevalence of speeding in fatal accidents.
That data was used to calculate a “crash score,” according to the report.
The cities with the worst drivers, according to Consumer Affairs findings, are Memphis, Tenn.; Baton Rouge, La.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Macon, Ga.; and St. Louis, Mo.
“Analyzing crash data also gave us insight into which states have the best drivers,” the report read.
Lynn ranked sixth on that list.
But according to Police Public Information Officer Lt. Rick Connick, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s most recent Top Crash Locations Report lists Lynn as having eight of the 200 intersections with the most crashes in the state.
In fact, there is a safety-improvement project in the works at the intersections of Broadway and Jenness Street, and Broadway and Euclid Avenue. Based on data collected from 2018 to 2021, an average of 24 accidents happen at these intersections each year.
“How many intersections are there in the Commonwealth? There’s hundreds of thousands of intersections and [these intersections] rose to the top in terms of its need for safety,” Tighe & Bond Senior Vice President of Transportation and Business Richard Benevento said at a recent public-information meeting.
Connick said that traffic is a priority of the Police Department, and it will continue to work with community members in order to improve it.
“While we are pleased to see the results of this one particular study, the issue of traffic safety is among the most frequently raised concerns of residents, and one the department continually works to address,” Connick wrote in a statement to The Item.
