CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Commuters are getting stuck in traffic more often lately because of wrecks in Clarksville, and police say those wrecks are on the rise.

The most dangerous roads for wrecks in Clarksville are Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, Fort Campbell Boulevard, Tiny Town Road, state Highway 374, Madison Street, Trenton Road and Ashland City Road, according to Police Lt. Vincent Lewis, who is over both the Traffic Enforcement Unit and the Fatal Accident Crash Team.

One person was killed in a wreck on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard on June 16, 2022. (Dash 10 Media)

“Those roads comprise more than 60 percent of our crashes per month,” Lewis said.

And those roads had a significant increase in traffic wrecks in 2021, according to numbers from Police Sgt. Charles Gill.

On those seven roads:

  • In 2019, there were 186 injury wrecks and 2 fatalities.
  • In 2020, there were 95 injury wrecks and 1 fatality.
  • In 2021, there were 126 injury wrecks and 5 fatalities.
  • In 2022, during only the first six months, there have already been 218 injury wrecks and 4 fatalities.

So, while there was a dip in injury wrecks in 2020 and 2021, likely because of the COVID pandemic, we are on track in 2022 to double the number of injury wrecks from 2019.

An SUV and a Clarksville Police patrol car were involved in a three-vehicle crash on Fort Campbell Boulevard on May 5, 2022. (CPD, contributed)

Causes of wrecks

Lewis said the reasons for the wrecks vary.

“It changes for different roadways,” Lewis said. “Wilma Rudolph, it would be following too closely, and failure to yield right of way as people come out of these hidden driveways.”

On Fort Campbell Boulevard, the primary causes are failure to yield and speeding. “Tiny Town Road is also speed-related crashes,” he said. “A lot of crashes closer to Trenton Road are related to following too closely, and along State Route 374, it’s a combination of speed, reckless driving and distracted driving.”

Lewis said on Madison Street the main cause is following too closely.

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Timing is important too, with afternoon rush hour being a prime time for wrecks.

“The busiest times on these roads are definitely going to be when everyone is getting off of work, about 2:30 in the afternoon until about 6 o’clock,” he said. “All of the factories and the schools – everything is letting out at the same time, so we have a higher volume of traffic in the afternoons.”

During that time, people seem to be more impatient and driving more recklessly, being more excited to get home in the afternoon than to go to work in the morning,

“I know there are plans in the future to alleviate some of the traffic on the major arteries of these streets,” Lewis said, but until those plans reach fruition, there is just no way around the traffic. “You are going to have to drive on one of these major roadways,” he said.

A crash at Wilma Rudolph Boulevard and Athletic Avenue on Sept. 10, 2021. (CPD Lt. Vincent Lewis, contributed)

Word of caution

Lewis said safer driving is just a matter of motorists planning accordingly.

“Right now, with the rapid growth, we are just not able to keep up with it, so you are adding more and more vehicles to roadways that are already completed saturated,” Lewis said.

“My thoughts would be to encourage motorists to plan on their trips taking 5 to 10 minutes longer and leave accordingly in the mornings,” he said. “In the afternoons, where it used to take 10 minutes to get home, it’s going to take 20 to 25 minutes to get home, so you have to plan accordingly.

“No use getting frustrated; the time is going to take a little longer because we have more vehicles,” Lewis said.