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An Underlying Cause of Accidents
The Sandy Johnson Foundation recognizes that although the majority of accidents can be blamed on human error, there are many factors which can contribute to that error. One of the most prominent factors, and most dangerous, is driver-conditioning. Driver-conditioning is a natural phenomenon which occurs when motorists become “conditioned” to respond to traffic patterns or road conditions which remain constant over time. Motorists can easily become a victim of driver-conditioning when traffic patterns and/or road conditions abruptly change with little or no warning. Where these abrupt changes occur, there are typically a disproportionate number of accidents, resulting in life-changing injuries and deaths. It is these locations to which The Sandy Johnson Foundation is working to draw attention.

The Difficulty of Properly Identifying the Cause of Accidents at High-Accident Sites
Determining the cause of accidents at locations with high-accident rates can be a simple process. However, most Transportation Departments use a bureaucratically mandated system that is so convoluted, the true cause behind the high rate of accidents at those locations can go unnoticed for years. For example, there was a section of California freeway which was improperly constructed and did not allow for proper drainage during periods of rain. Drivers who approached this area, accustomed to good traction, suddenly found themselves “sailing” out of control due to hydroplaning. It took four years and three “studies” before the California Department of Transportation determined that hydroplaning was the true cause behind the high accident rate - driver error had been previously reported as the cause. Similarly, six studies over a thirteen year period failed to identify the cause behind the high accident rate where Sandy and her mother died.

What Departments of Transportation are Missing in High-Accident Site Evaluations
The first source of dependable information should always be the vehicle driver who caused the accident. Responses to simple questions like, “What happened?” or “Why did you do that?” can reveal a great deal about an accident site. Although Transportation Departments will typically discount this procedure as ineffective or unreliable, we believe our approach is more cost effective, more reliable, and less time consuming than the failed procedures currently in place. An example will illustrate my point: I interviewed several “at fault” drivers of vehicles who were involved in accidents, or near accidents, at the location where Sandy was killed. In each situation, the driver said they pulled into traffic because they believed the intersection was a four-way stop. In those short conversations, I learned something over a two week period that the Ohio Department of Transportation hadn’t learned in over thirteen years and after no fewer than five costly and time-consuming studies.