Clay Burgh

Eng 102

Project 1 Research

After some deliberation and help from Taylor I came up with an issue in my community that I
believe requires a lot of attention. I live close to Bell Road in Surprise and drive it nearly every day. It
seems that every day there is a new incident that is holding up traffic. The lights are not synced up and a
ten-minute drive town to the end of Bell can take upwards of twenty to thirty minutes at almost any
time in the day. There are multiple intersections with stolen stop signs as well that causes a lot of
crashes. I believe the constant amount of construction could also be to blame for missing stop signs. I
Have called the city a few times about replacing one specific one and they have yet to replace it in the
four months since I have asked.

My primary audience is going to be drivers that drive bell roads in my community. For my
primary research I am going to get an interview with Robert Torres who is a police officer here. I hope to
get some numbers on just how dangerous Bell Road has been lately. I would also like to interview one or
a few people who drive on this road every day as well and maybe even get some suggestions and
concerns about the road. Having this other perspective, I believe, would help me see other issues that
could help make driving on this road safer.

Interview Questions

-How many crashes do you respond to a day on Bell Road?

-How many people are pulled over for traffic violations daily?

-Which areas have the most crashes?

-Are you aware of multiple missing traffic signs?

-Is there anything you would change to make bell road safer?

Secondary Research Sources

Stone, K. (2021, December 14). Here are Arizona's 10 deadliest stretches of road, all in Metro
Phoenix. KTAR.com. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from
https://ktar.com/story/4806696/here-are-arizonas-10-deadliest-stretches-of-road-all-in-
metro-phoenix/

I found this article on a local news website and it does a good job showing how deadly Bell
road has been. It supports my argument by adding statistics to my report. In the article it
ranks bell road as the seventh most deadly road in all of Arizona. It provides information
on how many crashes there have been as well as the casualties. Last year we had fourteen
casualties alone just on Bell Road
Mushkatel, R. & B. (2022, April 8). Top 10 most dangerous intersections in Phoenix. Mushkatel,
Robbins & Becker. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from
https://www.phoenixlawteam.com/blog/dangerous-intersections/

This article covers multiple intersections that are considered dangerous around Arizona and
two of them are on Bell Road. This article also gives some explanation on why the traffic
and roads are so dangerous. It tells about how drivers often use the empty parking lots
alongside of bell to weave in and out of traffic. Although this may be quicker than sitting
in traffic, it creates many dangers for other drivers and the people who are doing it. It also
talks about how a busy road, fifty-ninth avenue, intersects at one point with Bell which has
caused many crashes.

Stone, K. (2023, January 4). Drunk driver in deadly surprise crash had almost 3 times the legal
limit for alcohol, police say. FOX 10 Phoenix. Retrieved March 30, 2023, from
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/drunk-driver-in-deadly-surprise-crash-had-almost-3-
times-the-legal-limit-for-alcohol-police-say

This article covers another part of why bell road has become so dangerous. With all of the
restaurants and bars pretty much on one strip of road you get a lot of drunk driving
incidents. This article covers a drunk driver on Bell that killed a young driver. I live in a
community where there are a lot of schools and children. This article will help add some
emotional value to my piece and possibly tug on the readers heart strings. This gives a
serious point of view of what can happen on this road.

Preliminary Thesis

The unfortunate reality is that not everyone on Bell Road drives with others’ safety in
mind. There are things in our power that can make the road safer to drive for the whole
community.