El Paso Police Department Releases List Of Top Ten Most Dangerous Intersections

The El Paso Police Department released a list of the city’s top collision intersections so far this year.

The list, which was originally sent out on April 14th, is as follows:

1. Joe Battle & Montwood 35 collisions 2. Gateway West & Yarbrough 20 collisions 3. Gateway West & George Dieter 17 collisions 4. Global Reach & Montana 17 collisions 5. Alameda & Americas 17 collisions (as of April 17th) 6. Gateway West & Lee Trevino 15 collisions 7. George Dieter & Zaragoza 15 collisions 8. Airway & Montana 14 collisions 9. Gateway East & Lee Trevino 14 collisions 10. Gateway East & Zaragoza 14 collisions

The latest collision happened Sunday morning at the intersection of Alameda & Americas.

EPPD, firefighters, and EMS personnel responded to the wreck at 9500 Alameda Avenue just before 8 a.m. in the Lower Valley.

According to an initial investigation by police, a white Ford F-150 driven by a 69-year-old man was headed north on Americas Avenue when it approached the intersection where the crash occurred. Police said the white truck disregarded the red light and hit a maroon Ford F-150 that was traveling west on Alameda Avenue.

A female passenger of the vehicle that was struck was ejected from the truck and died at the scene. Officials have not released her identity.

Authorities said she was not wearing her seat belt.

The driver of the white truck was taken to an area hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

It has not yet been determined if alcohol was a factor in the crash.

“(Alameda and Americas) is a red light camera intersection, so we do anticipate being able to download the video that is part of this investigation,” said Detective Mike Baranyay of the El Paso Police Department.

Despite the red light camera’s presence, Alameda and Americas is third in the list of most dangerous intersections in the city. That prompted some El Pasoans to ask whether red light cameras were effective in preventing car wrecks at all.

“I don’t think the cameras are necessary,” said one driver we spoke with.

In fact, ABC-7 discovered four out of the ten intersections mentioned in the list do have red light cameras, according to the City of El Paso’s website. Those four intersections include Alameda and Americas, Joe Battle and Montwood, Airway and Montana, and Gateway East and Zaragoza.

That said, other drivers we spoke with said the number of accidents at those intersections would be worse without the cameras.

“I think they should put more up,” said one driver.

Last April ABC-7 reported the findings of an El Paso Police Department study regarding the red light cameras. The Department said serious crashes at intersections with cameras went down 34 percent since their installation in October 2006.