BY STEFANIE JACKSON BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
Exmore’s police chief is skeptical about a recent decision by the Virginia Department of Transportation that was intended to improve safety on U.S. Route 13.
In early July, VDOT installed a traffic signal with a flashing yellow arrow “to help make left turns safer and more efficient” at the intersection of U.S. Route 13 and Broadwater Road
in Exmore, according to a VDOT press release.
Southbound vehicles frequently turn left at that intersection to stop at the McDonald’s on the east side of the highway. The flashing yellow arrow tells drivers that they can turn left after yielding to oncoming traffic and pedestrians crossing the street.
The traffic signal also features three additional arrows: a solid yellow arrow indicating the light is about to turn red, a solid red arrow telling drivers to stop, and a solid green arrow telling drivers they have the right of way to turn left.
But within the last month, there have been two accidents in Exmore at intersections with yellow flashing arrows.
Exmore Police Chief Angelo DiMartino on Aug. 5 told the town council that there were four reportable crashes in the town in July, and half of them involved intersections with yellow flashing arrows.
“I don’t know why VDOT thought it was a good idea to make that decision,” he said of the installation of the new traffic signal.
Both accidents at the yellow flashing arrows involved drivers who “failed to yield. They thought they had enough time and they were blasting through it, striking cars,” DiMartino said.
One of the accidents at a yellow flashing arrow involved a driver who “blew the light, hit a car, and actually took off,” DiMartino said. “Luckily, it damaged the vehicle bad enough that
it got down to the rest area, and he had to pull in there, because it disabled the vehicle. It ran hot. He was easy to catch.”
DiMartino also asked drivers to be careful when approaching the intersection of Route 13 and Oakland Drive, by Royal Farms.
“Those intersections were bad enough with the light that tells you, ‘green, go, red, stop.’ Now they’ve given you a flashing yellow to … ‘Let me try and make it,’” he said.
DiMartino said he will track how many accidents occur at the yellow flashing arrows “so that if it becomes a real problem, we can complain to VDOT and say, ‘This was not a good
idea.’”
