Crime & Safety
New Canaan's Most Dangerous Roads
Since 2008, police have responded to 10 motor vehicle accidents on upper Ponus Ridge including two fatalities in 2011.
The is under investigation and police cannot discuss possible causes or contributing factors. Sgt. Carol Ogrinc of the said accident reconstructionists are continuing their investigation; .
Since 2008, New Canaan police have responded to 10 accidents, including two fatalities in 2011, on the upper portion of Ponus Ridge Road according to Chief Edward Nadriczny.
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"The pure number, 10 accidents over three years in that portion of Ponus Ridge is not significant," he said in an email to Patch," What is concerning is the severity of some of the accidents."
Nadriczny said most of the accidents have taken place between Lost District Drive and Reservoir Road. That's where the Dec. 22 incident that took the life of James Jackson Savage, 74, of Seattle Washington happened. In May 2011, was killed in a one car accident just south of Reservoir Road. The third accident occurred in 1997.
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Between 2008 and 2011 five motor vehicle fatalities were reported in New Canaan, according to Ogrinc. Two occurred on and one on Smith Ridge Road.
Nadriczny said investigations of the two earlier fatal accidents on Ponus Ridge Road concluded excessive speed was a factor in both and in one.
"Traveling unreasonably fast" appeared to be a common denominator in the non-fatal accidents as well, he said. Alcohol consumption was also a contributing factor in one of those accidents.
"If you put alcohol into that equation it is not 'will an accident happen?' it is 'when will it happen?'" he said.
Nadriczny said the fact that Ponus Ridge is narrow and windy and sections of it are dark were contributing factors in the accidents. The other causative factor, which he said is often hard to measure, is distracted driving.
When assessing the causes of accidents on any road in town, Nadriczny said the police look at roadway design, conditions and driver behavior.
Design modifications were made to lower Weed St. and "aggressive signage" was added to Frogtown Road in hopes of reducing accidents on those roads. Nadriczny said the reported accidents on those roads have gone down dramatically since changes were made.
