South Gate’s Most Dangerous Mile

The three intersections in South Gate that recorded the most vehicle collisions in 2011 were all located within a mile of each other on Firestone Boulevard. With Firestone Boulevard and Garfield Avenue recording the most collisions for that year.  This highly used intersection tallied a total of 34 collisions, during the past year, according to the .

“There is a high volume of traffic that goes through the intersection of Firestone and Garfield,” said Sgt. Edward Perez, who heads the traffic division of the South Gate Police Department. “That is the reason why you get such a high number of collisions.”

The second intersection with the most vehicle crashes was Firestone Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue, with 21-recorded collisions reported. This intersection is located just one mile to the west of the Firestone Boulevard and Garfield Avenue intersection.

“This is also a road of with a high volume of traffic,” said Sgt. Perez. “Also, a lot of people from [the city of] Cudahy use this intersection.”  

Right in between both of these cross-streets is the also highly intersection of the I-710 Freeway and Firestone Boulevard, which ranked third with 17 collisions in 2011.

However, it was the I-710 and Firestone Bouelvard, that had the highest number of collisions with injuries,with 6. Firestone and Atlantic Avenue came second, with 5 injuries, with Firestone Boulevard and Garfield Avenue coming in third, with 3 reported injuries.

Not all of the reported accidents occurred at the middle of each intersection. In fact, the South Gate Police Department tallies the collisions near each of the intersections together. Therefore, drivers should be aware when driving in this area.

Despite the blame placed on high traffic, the South Gate Police also warns residents to be attentive while driving in these areas, and others. 

“People need to pay attention to what they are doing”, said Sgt Perez. “Drivers need to stay off their cell phones, because things can change in seconds.” 

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