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After motorcyclist killed at Central intersection, drivers wary of blind spot caused by design
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CENTRAL - The intersection of Joor Road and LA 64 is raising concerns among drivers that a potential design flaw coupled with driver error could turn deadly.
After a 31-year-old Central city employee was killed on his motorcycle Friday, Brandon Haley reached out to WBRZ with his own tales of trouble at the intersection. Haley drives a motorcycle through the area almost every day and says he has noticed several crashes.
"Coming through like on a Monday morning you'll see debris laying in the road where accidents happened that have been cleared up over the weekend," Haley said.
Haley believes drivers stopped at the stop sign on Joor have a blind spot when eastbound traffic is oncoming. When drivers are impatient and don't double-check before turning onto LA 64, it can be a detrimental mistake.
"The people that are stopped at the stop sign aren't taking enough time to let those cars clear out of the way to make sure there's nothing hidden behind them in the eastbound lane before they pull into the road and they're pulling out in front of people."
Haley had his own close call recently while driving eastbound on LA 64. He said a woman nearly pulled out in front of him, causing him to swerve into the westbound lane and skid to a complete stop on his motorcycle.
"I was lucky no one was coming," he said.
That's a similar scenario to what happened during that fatal accident last Friday. An SUV pulled out in front of the victim's motorcycle, causing him to T-bone the SUV.
"Some people are just in a hurry and don't take their time. And then some people look to the east and look back to the west and they think there's actually nothing there when there actually something there hidden behind another vehicle," Haley said.
He isn't sure what kind of solution this intersection requires, but he thinks preventative action from local officials is needed.
So far in 2024, there have been approximately 17 crashes on Greenwell Springs-Port Hudson within the city limits of Central, with three being in the area of Joor and three being in the area of North Joor, which is 500 to 1000 feet east of Joor Road.
In 2023, there were 30 crashes on Greenwell Springs, with nine in the area of Joor and two at or near North Joor. In 2022, there were 33 crashes on Greenwell Springs, with seven at or near Joor and one in the area of North Joor.
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