CURRIE, N.C. (WECT) – According to neighbors, the intersection of Malpass Corner Road and Highway 421 has been plagued with crashes.

“It has become traumatic,” neighbor Suzanne Tatum said. “We can hear the crashes, we can see the crashes. I’ve been the first one to call on several accidents. I saw a man pass away in November. We’ve responded and gone out there to probably 12 or 13 crashes.”

NCDOT data shows there have been 38 crashes at the intersection from 2018 to 2022. 2023 data has not been added yet.

One of those crashes involved Tatum’s husband in July of 2023.

“He pulled out from our driveway, he wasn’t even going more than 30 mph and he was hit,” Tatum said. “He had severe knee damage, he had wrist damage, he had a concussion. My husband and I are very nervous every time we go through the intersection now.”

At Malpass Corner Food Mart, store worker Shadi Hamam says he’s witnessed many crashes. One man even died in his parking lot. Because of his fear of the wrecks, he’s started changing his routine.

“Half the time I’m worried when I go check the mail,” Hamam said. “Whether there’s a car that’s gonna run the stop sign, and another car’s gonna hit it, and if I’m gonna get hit in the middle of it. I usually go check the mail around 4, but I’m getting to the point I don’t even check the mail until late in the evening when there’s less traffic.”

It’s because of this type of fear and these crashes that NCDOT is trying to make a change. Recently, speed limits were dropped from 55 to 45 miles per hour for half a mile in all directions leading into the intersection.

Hamam isn’t sure it’s the right move.

“It’s not about the speed limit, that has nothing to do with it,” Hamam said. “All you’re doing is making it inconvenient for the people going up and down 421. Your problem is the stop sign, not the people traveling the main highway. The state needs to do more than just change the speed limit.”

However, Tatum thinks the reduced speed limit could help if it’s combined with more safety measures down the line.

“I would like to see drivers be more aware to start with, I would like the marking to be better so they know they’re about to hit a major intersection, and I’d love to see a traffic light,” Tatum said. “I don’t want anybody else to die, I don’t want anybody else to get hurt.”

NCDOT told WECT in an email that they are in the process of trying to create a traffic light in that spot.

“These kind of projects take time to develop and sometimes require new right of way, and we have to compete for funding amongst other highway improvement projects,” NCDOT’s Public Relations Officer Anthony Barksdale wrote. “That’s why we feel good that we can get this new traffic signal installed at this location by sometime next year.”

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