The area near our main office on Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown, Springfield Township (Montgomery County) is very hazardous. We hear or see accidents right from the office windows regularly. Why is this area dangerous? There are many commercial establishments along Bethlehem Pike but the speed limit is 35 and it is VERY hard to find driveways of stores ( if they even have driveways or parking lots) when you are driving 35 miles per hour. There are no crosswalks anywhere between the traffic lights which are spread pretty far apart so people are constantly jay walking to leave their office to run to Wawa or Starbucks. You have four lanes of traffic on Bethlehem Pike with two heading one direction and two heading the other. Getting across the entire four lanes is quite a feat but everyone is always in a hurry and many think "Starbucks is right across the street-I'm not giving up my parking spot and wasting gas to go 25 feet away to get a snack".
Also, the traffic light directly before Starbucks on Bethlehem Pike is such a short distance from the driveway to Starbucks that if the light is green heading east, people driving 35 miles per hour will see the Starbucks sign and suddenly realize they need to make a quick right turn right after the light. So they slam on the breaks and get rear ended. I hear the police sirens weekly on a regular basis on Bethlehem Pike and lots of the accidents are due to people either trying to get into the Starbucks parking lot or entering or exiting Wawa.
Up the road a bit is the entrance/exit to Planet Fitness. What a crazy hazard that is! It is almost impossible to safely exit the Planet Fitness parking lot to make a left turn from the driveway onto Bethlehem Pike at rush hour. I have actually on occasion given up and just made a right turn to go into the Giant Market parking lot where the Movie Tavern is located to swing around so I can exit that lot with a right turn instead of taking my life in my hands by trying to turn left out of the Planet Fitness lot.
Another very hazardous location is the Dunkin (previously Dunkin Donuts) drive through exit onto Bethlehem Pike. What a nightmare! I had a client mowed down by a guy holding his hot coffee and in a hurry to get to work. The driver was looking at vehicular traffic to find an opening to get out onto Bethlehem Pike and was not looking at all at pedestrian traffic walking on the sidewalk past the drive-through exit. Sadly, he hit my client and knocked her directly into Bethlehem Pike, causing her to fracture her foot and suffer a concussion. By the grace of god she was not run over by any other car on Bethlehem Pike. This is a very dangerous area for pedestrians and drivers but a pedestrian has no protection and always loses the battle of car vs. human.
Frankly, there need to be far more crosswalks on Bethlehem Pike and a decrease in the speed limit, especially along this commercial stretch.
If you are injured in an accident along Bethlehem Pike (old Rt 309) call us as we are very familiar with the location and its hazards. There is never a charge for a consultation, so call Worthington Law Group today at 215-576-5150 before you speak to the insurance company or sign anything.