WELLINGTON, Fla. — Some commuters said that when they approach the busy intersection of Wellington Trace and Greenview Shores Boulevard, they think about Thursday's crash that claimed the life of a 71-year-old man.
It was one of two crashes that occurred near this intersection on the same day, which happened just hours apart.
"Gut-wrenching, very gut-wrenching," said Jennifer Shoemaker, who said she drives past the intersection daily with her daughter Skylar.
"People run the red lights a lot," Skylar said. "I've seen them run the red lights while on the golf cart."
According to the Palm Beach County Traffic Engineering Operations, there have been 72 crashes at the intersection in the past five years.
Some say approaching it is a white-knuckle drive.
Shoemaker said a left-hand turn signal that alternates between a solid red, a solid green and a flashing yellow confuses drivers who aren't familiar with the intersection.
"When that light is flashing, and say, I'm the second car," Shoemaker explained, "if you see a car go ahead of you, with the flashing yellow, you think, 'I got the green light' and (slaps hands to simulate a crash) you could see how that could happen."
Wellington has other intersections known for their high volume of crashes.
Figures from traffic engineering operations showed 397 wrecks in a five-year period where State Route 7 crosses Forest Hill Boulevard.
In 2021 alone, it had 96, tied for the most crashes in all of Palm Beach County.
Village manager Jim Barnes said the community wants to bring these numbers down.
"You can't have deputies at every intersection, every day," said Barnes, who believes traffic enforcement makes the roads safer, "but we try and rotate it around and try and focus on areas where we do have problems."
