Vermont Route 15 from the roundabout in Hyde Park to the roundabout in Morrisville located at the northern end of the VT Route 100 Bypass around Morrisville is a particularly dangerous stretch of road. There is a lot of traffic because both State of Vermont Route 15 and Route 100 share the roadway from roundabout to roundabout. I do not know the reasons why more crashes occur in this stretch of Vermont Routes 15 and 100, but I know they occur.
More recently, there was another crash on Routes 15 and 100 that occurred near the intersection with East Main Street in Hyde Park, Vermont. According to the News & Citizen, a weekly newspaper in Morrisville, Vermont, “A pickup truck driver may have avoided near-certain death by inches after his truck crashed into a flatbed truck on Route 15 in Hyde Park last Thursday, November 7, 2019.” The driver of the pickup truck was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where he was listed in fair condition. The driver of the flatbed truck was not injured.
I have represented people injured in motor vehicle crashes in this stretch of State highway a number of times over the years. Here is a sample of some of the cases:
●Intersection Crash at VT Route 15 and Needle Eye Road in Morristown, Vermont – At the time of the crash, the weather was clear and the road surface was dry. Our client had stopped his vehicle in the westbound lane of Route 15, waiting for eastbound traffic to clear so he could turn left in a southerly direction onto Needle Eye Road. While he was waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, he was struck from the rear by the negligent driver. The negligent driver claimed that the sun was setting at the time of the crash, causing a significant glare. She claimed she could not see our client’s vehicle at all and that is why she smashed into it without braking. The investigating police officer determined that the crash was caused solely by the negligent driver failing to property scan the roadway in front of her while she was traveling on Route 15. Therefore ,claiming that being blinded by the sun is not an excuse if you cause a crash.
●This crash occurred in Morristown on VT Route 15, not far from Lamoille Valley Chevrolet (formerly known as McMahon’s Chevrolet) now located in Hyde Park. Our client was proceeding in a westerly direction on Route 15 and had stopped to make a left-hand turn into a driveway on the south side of Route 15. Our client had her directional signal on for a left-hand turn. The driver in back of her was not paying attention and smashed into the rear of our client’s vehicle. He claimed he was distracted by a vehicle that was parked on the side of the road and he did not have enough time to stop when he saw the vehicle in front of him stopped.
●Our client was making a left-hand turn onto VT Route 15 at the intersection with Center Road in Morristown. The wrongdoing driver was operating at a high rate of speed with his lights off. He smashed in the side of our client’s truck. The police officer found that the negligent driver was completely at fault.
●Motor Vehicle Collision on VT Route 15 Near Mac’s Market in Morristown – While proceeding in a westerly direction, three vehicles in front of our client’s vehicle stopped to allow a car to turn into Mac’s Market. The negligent driver was not paying attention and rear-ended our client’s vehicle.
●Rear-end Collision on Vermont State Highway 15 Near Lamoille Valley Transportation in Morrisville – Our client was proceeding in a westerly direction on Route 15 when she was rear-ended by a commercial pickup truck. Our client had stopped for a vehicle that was waiting to turn into Lamoille Valley Transportation.