California State Route 55 Auto Accidents

State Route 55 also known as the 55 freeway in Orange County stretches a little over 17 miles in length. The 55 freeway travels from the Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach to the 91 freeway in Anaheim. The route is a part of the California Freeway and Expressway System. The most common name for Route 55 is the Costa Mesa Freeway even though it used to be referred as the Newport Freeway.

Route 55 or the Costa Mesa Freeway has been a very important linking system for southern Orange County between the 91 freeway and Interstate 5. The 55 freeway runs through the growing cities of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Orange, Tustin, and Anaheim. The road was the first to incorporate carpool lanes to prevent congestion.

55 Freeway's Importance

According to a 2005 report from the Department of Transportation, about 262,000 vehicles and over 17,000 trucks move along Route 55 everyday. From 2005, the road has been growing even more, as the road travels from Riverside to the Ocean meeting Pacific Coast Highway. For this reason, there is still a lot of congestion despite the use of the carpool lane.

A separate study by the California Department of Transportation notes the reasons for why the traffic on Route 55. These included John Wayne Airport, Newport Center, Downtown Costa Mesa, Hoag Hospital, coastline beaches, University of California, Irvine, Mall of Orange, Western Medical Center, and Santa Ana Civic Center.

55 Freeway Traffic Problems

The average daily traffic (ADT) on the SR-55 on 19th street in Costa Mesa is about 71,000 vehicles. Over 182,000 of these vehicles cover Triangle Square in which Harbor Boulevard, 19th street, and Newport Boulevard meet. This area along with other ones can cause severe congestion problems and a bad accident. Factors that contribute to traffic accidents on the freeway include congestion, dangerous truck drivers, distracted drivers, and debris or large items that somehow make it onto the freeway.

For the reason that the SR-55 is typically full of cars travelling at high speeds and bad congestion, a typical accident might involve a large number of vehicles, which can lead to a lot of people becoming injured. These injuries range from head injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bone injuries, lacerations, and even burns. There is no reason for why any of these victims should be responsible for the injuries received. Therefore, the negligent party should give compensation to the victims. In order to receive compensation, a victim needs a good personal injury attorney to represent him or her.