Bakersfield is a great place to work, attend class, and raise a family. Unfortunately, there are usually some very busy roads that connect our homes to shopping, schools, and the office.
Routes like Highway 99 and Union Avenue carry us to our destinations quickly, but they also expose us to reckless drivers. An accident can leave us with serious injuries and even do life-threatening harm to a family member.
Each year, transportation officials track the most dangerous spots for accidents in Bakersfield. The same Bakersfield intersections seem to top the list of most hazardous locations for motorists each year.
Maison Law of Bakersfield checked the most up-to-date 2021 Bakersfield car accident statistics to show just where we need to be on guard for careless collisions in 2023.
Dangerous Intersections in Bakersfield in 2021
The California Transportation Injury Mapping System (TIMS) is an accident-tracking resource that helps us get a handle on just how many accidents happen in Bakersfield and where they occur.
The TIMS 2022 accident numbers aren’t finalized yet, but we can get the total numbers from 2021 for an illuminating view of where Bakersfield car crashes happen the most. If you drive in Bakersfield, you’ll likely already have a good idea of where the busiest intersections are. But it’s helpful for all of us to see these spots visually so we can all take extra care in these busy corridors.
These were the intersections that most frequently saw accidents in 2021:
Two of the accidents that occurred around the Ming Avenue and Stine Road intersection involved pedestrians. Two accidents reported at Brundage Lane and Union Avenue involved those traveling on foot. It’s critical to keep drivers focused on the safety of pedestrians. Motorists must slow down anytime they see a pedestrian entering a roadway. Drivers are responsible for acting to avoid a collision even if a pedestrian isn’t in a crosswalk.
In the chart above, we only see the number of car crashes reported in and around these intersections. They don’t reflect how many victims suffered serious injuries and lost their lives in these scary incidents.
This is a visual representation of how many serious injuries resulted from the collisions reported above:
It’s important to note that in 2021 accidents at the California Avenue and Union Avenue intersection caused at least 3 tragic deaths. One death resulted from the accidents at Ming Avenue and Stine Road. One death also resulted from the accidents at Brundage and Union.
Keeping Bakersfield Intersections Safer in 2023
These crossroads are some of the busiest spots in Bakersfield. During rush hours, cars can get backed up and drivers may get jumpy. Safety may be forgotten as motorists try to make a left turn or are looking at a cell phone instead of the color of a traffic light.
Of course, caution needs to be shown on every street and intersection in Bakersfield. Drivers may be able to see the obvious dangers on fast-moving highways like Highway 99, but they must also stay vigilant on Bakersfield’s smaller roads and city streets. Staying focused on the lanes ahead is the only way we’ll improve on the accident numbers collected in 2021 and 2022. It’s the only way to prevent the tragic deaths the Bakersfield community endures each year in preventable traffic crashes.
