New traffic signal installed at intersection where Cary teen died in wreck

State and town authorities adjusted the traffic signal Wednesday at the intersection of N.C. 55 and McCrimmon Parkway, two months after a high school student died as the result of a two-car collision there.

Panther Creek High student Laura Yost, 15, died Sept. 23, days after the accident on Sept. 16. She was a passenger in a car that tried to turn left from N.C. 55 onto McCrimmon Parkway toward the school but was hit by an oncoming dump truck. The intersection is less than a mile from Panther Creek High, which is at 6770 McCrimmon Parkway. The crash occurred about 7:10 a.m. while the students were on their way to school.

Both the truck driver and 16-year-old Spencer Saunders, who drove the SUV Yost was riding in, had a yellow light, according to Cary police. Saunders was charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle for failing to yield to the truck.

The state Department of Transportation began working with the town of Cary and the Wake County school district to make the intersection safer after Yost’s death, said DOT spokesman Steve Abbott.

The intersection doesn’t have a history of serious wrecks. But the town, school district and Transportation Secretary Tony Tata wanted to make it safer for inexperienced drivers, Abbott said.

“That’s not what we would consider a dangerous intersection,” Abbott said. “But there are a lot of young drivers taking left turns, and safety is our top priority.”

The town of Cary adjusted the traffic light Wednesday so that vehicles can only turn left from N.C. 55 onto McCrimmon Parkway at the signal of a green arrow during morning, lunch and afternoon school commuting times. The green arrow stops oncoming vehicles from the other direction so that drivers can turn safely onto McCrimmon.

Before the adjustment, drivers were given a green light but had to wait until the path was clear to turn.

“Now, drivers can only make a left turn during those (busy school) times when given the green arrow,” said Lori Cove, director of Cary’s transportation and facilities department.

The light will operate as a flashing yellow at other times of the day, meaning left-turning vehicles must yield to oncoming traffic.

The intersection is maintained by the DOT, but the light will be operated by the town of Cary. The new light equipment cost about $6,000 and will be paid for by the DOT, Abbott said.

According to DOT policy, the transportation department investigated the safety of the intersection after Yost’s death. Her’s was the first traffic fatality at the intersection in the past three years, Abbott said.

An average of 25,000 vehicles pass through the intersection each day, he said.

There have been 29 accidents at the intersection since 2011, he said, with seven of those accidents involving cars that were in the process of turning left onto McCrimmon. Four of the seven accidents involving left-turning vehicles also involved a car coming through the intersection from the other direction.

“Before that (the accident that killed Yost) we never had a wreck that caused a serious injury or fatality,” Abbott said.

This story was originally published December 5, 2014 at 4:52 PM with the headline "New traffic signal installed at intersection where Cary teen died in wreck."