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CNN Live At Daybreak

State Farm Names Most Dangerous U.S. Intersections

Aired June 27, 2001 - 08:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Most drivers can tell stories about their most dreaded intersection. In about an hour, State Farm Insurance Company will announce its list of the most dangerous crossroads in the country. They are in seven states, from Pembroke Pines, Florida to intersections in the City of Brotherly Love, to one in Phoenix. The list continues with two crossings in Tulsa and then Frisco, Texas, and finally intersections in Louisiana and in California's capital city, Sacramento.

The most dangerous is in Pembroke Pines, Florida. And that's where we find Cristina Gonzalez of our affiliate station WPLG this morning.

Cristina, what's so dangerous about this one?

CRISTINA GONZALEZ, WPLG REPORTER Well, State Farm found 357 accidents at this intersection over their two-year time period. This is Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard.

We can take a live look from our mast cam. This intersection is actually bordered by malls on three corners and a popular park on the fourth. So it has become quite saturated. By some estimates by the Department of Transportation, Pines Boulevard has become one of the main east/west thoroughfares; 90,000 cars go through here each and every day. So, by sheer volume, that's one of the reasons that this has become the country's most dangerous intersections -- Carol, back to you.

LIN: Cristina, have you navigated this intersection yourself? And what do you find difficult about it? Is it just that it's distracting because of all of the malls around it or the traffic pattern?

GONZALEZ: Well, one of the problems here is, apparently, the lights take a long time to change. So a lot of drivers seem to try to make the lights and they end up taking red lights. So that's just one of the problems.

The other problem is speed. The posted speed limit on Flamingo Road is 50 miles an hour. The posted speed limit on Pines Boulevard is 45 miles an hour. And there's just a wide range. There's six lanes on each side -- so a lot of cars just trying to go really fast around here -- Carol.

LIN: A problem nationwide. Thanks, Cristina Gonzalez, for reporting in.

And if you missed any of the intersections we've mentioned at the beginning of this story, all you have to do is head to our Web site. The address is CNN.com -- AOL keyword CNN.

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