Mass. man fed up over frequency of car crashes at intersection near his home

From his Somerville, Massachusetts, window, Ari Iaccarino says he saw so many car crashes that he started taking pictures of the wrecks and posting them online. "I’ll hear crashes every other week," Iaccarino said.He says he would hear crash after crash at the intersection of Mystic Valley Parkway and Boston Avenue from his apartment window. He claims it's not just bad drivers causing the mishaps, but bad road design."The lights are poorly timed, there is no left on green arrow. So what happens is, they're trying to take a left and cars behind that car might sometimes honk at them, even when it's unsafe to do so," Iaccarino said. "So drivers are experiencing peer pressure from people trying to force them to take a left."According to Somerville City Councilor Judy Pineda Neufeld, the intersection is one of the top crash sites in the city."This intersection has been a problem for as long as I've been a city councilor and for much longer than that," Pineda Neufeld said.Safety advocates have been pushing for changes on Mystic Valley Parkway or Route 16 for years.Now, changes are on the horizon with the Department of Conservation and Recreation confirming improvements will be made to the intersection. In a statement, DCR said they would add a camera system that will adjust the timing of traffic lights based on the presence of vehicles, a left turn arrow and new safety signage."It can't happen sooner, because I guarantee you, between now and when those changes will go into effect, there will be another crash," Iaccarino said.He’s happy there will be changes, but says more needs to be done, like adding 'No right on red' signs. "I had written them two hours after my puppy and I almost got hit, and I said if you guys don’t install it, I'm going to go out and purchase four $114 'No right on red' signs and drill them into the poles myself," Iaccarino said. "They said they’ll do a study." DCR says the changes were previously planned and will start implementation by the summer.