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The History of DCCI
The Tragic Story of Sandy Johnson's Fateful Intersection and the Power of Conditioning in Driver Behavior
On October 5, 2002, Sandy Johnson and her mother, Jackie Ebert, embarked on a short road trip. Arriving at their destination, they had one final intersection to cross. As Sandy came to a stop, she watched as a vehicle approached from her right with its left turn signal flashing. Stopping short of the intersection, the driver did what Sandy thought he should do, and with no other vehicle waiting to cross, Sandy pulled forward. That was the last decision of her life. As the front of her car reached the center of the intersection, a southbound SUV traveling 55 mph slammed into her vehicle, killing Sandy instantly. A few moments later, her mother took her last breath.
What happened? Why were their lives taken?
Sandy was an extremely safe driver, yet she was gone. Why? Sandy’s husband, Dean, asked those questions, but they went unanswered. Neither the state trooper delivering the message of that fatal crash nor the trooper in charge of the crash scene when Dean met with him the following day provided answers. Falling short in his search for the truth, he extended his investigation by interviewing the head of the EMT unit who responded to the crash along with other law enforcement personnel familiar with the intersection – all to no avail. No one could explain “why.”
In desperation, he sought the help of the local newspaper and ultimately spoke with Doug Haddix, assignment editor with The Columbus Dispatch. On the morning they met, Dean shared Sandy’s story and the limited history he learned through his earlier interviews and visits to the site. As their meeting came to an end, Doug promised Dean three things. First, he would research the intersection. Secondly, he would share his findings with Dean. And thirdly, if warranted, he would write a story. After completing his investigation, Doug fulfilled all three promises.
Here is what Doug's investigation revealed
At some point before 1990, the intersection of S.R. 310 and C.R. 25 began to experience a disproportionately high number of crashes. This prompted six Ohio Department of Transportation studies over the next 13 years. Seeking to prevent further collisions, one of those studies recommended a costly modification to S.R. 310 on the southbound approach to the intersection. But once completed, crash statistics increased, leading to a ranking of eighth most dangerous intersection in the state. Perplexed by these findings and determined to find the answer to “why,” Dean continued his investigation. Through a series of unexpected events and supported by respondents to the story of the tragedy presented in the newspaper, Dean was able to interview survivors and family members of crash victims who were involved in collisions at the site. He ultimately learned that “conditioning” was the underlying cause of crashes at that location—conditioning had a more significant influence over driver behavior than the traffic control devices installed for their safety.
Intrigued, he began to study conditioning and found that conditioning is a primary contributor to non-instinctive behavior. Recognizing the potential depth of that influence, he realized that conditioning might also contribute to other crashes. That led to additional studies which revealed that, except for unexpected occurrences such as a mechanical failure or health event, conditioning contributed to nearly all other crashes in some way.
That led to identifying Driver Conditioning as the underlying cause of nearly all vehicular crashes.
Driver Conditioning is the process through which drivers become conditioned to respond to traffic patterns and road conditions that remain consistent over an undefined period of time or distance.
How Conditioning Shaped Fatal Choices at Intersection 12
A description of the traffic pattern is warranted to explain how conditioning impacted driver behavior, leading to the deaths of Sandy, her mother, and several other victims over the years. In this case, for over 12 miles leading up to this deadly crash site, eastbound travelers experienced eleven intersections. Eight intersections were controlled with a fully functioning traffic signal, while four required all vehicles to stop before proceeding. Intersection number 12 resembled a four-way stop, but was not. This resulted in many drivers stopping at the intersection and, after observing no other vehicles waiting to cross, simply pulling forward. For some, that was their final mistake. For others, a life-changing lesson took place at a painful cost.
Developing the Highway Safety Initiative
With an understanding of this broadly based underlying cause for crashes and the characteristics and effects of the conditioning process, Dean developed the Highway Safety Initiative. Over the past 20 years, through application of this initiative, several locations experiencing a high crash rate have been successfully investigated and corrected. As a result, with the underlying cause of crashes identified, and low-cost countermeasures implemented, those dangerous locations experienced a significant reduction in crash frequency.
DCCI's Highway Safety Initiative Saving Lives and Transforming Futures
Today, DCCI works to seek recognition and implementation of the Highway Safety Initiative at the national level, broadening the influence of the Safe System Approach¹, resulting in thousands of lives saved and tens of thousands of life altering injuries prevented across the nation annually.
¹https://www.transportation.gov/NRSS/SafeSystem