Dangerous Road Condition Still Exists on Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach
The 10th anniversary of a gruesome fatal rollover crash in Orange County has passed—and apparently the condition which caused the rollover still exists, according to a recent article in the Orange County Register.
A community that mourned the death of a high school student and significant injuries to ten others still knows that “the S curve” in Irvine Avenue is to be approached with caution.
The crash, which happened a three weeks before graduation, killed one student, voted “Life of the Party” in his senior yearbook, and left a cheerleader in a coma with a severe brain injury.
The teen behind the wheel faced charges for reckless driving. Accidents such as this one are never forgotten, not because one young man died, but because of how it changed the lives of those who went on to survive the crash.
The problem here was and still is with the design of the S-shaped roadway. Numerous drivers take Irvine Avenue as a shortcut, to avoid either the freeway or other crowded arterial roadways.
Other flaws in road design include rate of incline, road texture, obstructive vegetation, and angles of road curves. Younger drivers are at greater risk of injury as a result of road design flaws because of their likelihood of speeding and lack of experience. In some instances, cities and counties fail to post warning signs cautioning motorists to slow down, or else these signs are not easily visible.
