For motorists who travel MacArthur Road and Fullerton Avenue on a regularly basis, vehicle accidents are a frequent occurrence.

Whitehall Township Police Lt. Greg Bealer recently spoke to The Press regarding the frequency of such accidents and their causes.

On average, Bealer said, township police respond to 108 motor vehicle accidents on a monthly basis.

According to statistics provided by Bealer, over a five-year period, motor vehicle accidents either have remained constant or have fluctuated just slightly in the areas of both MacArthur Road and Fullerton Avenue.

In 2011, there were 530 accidents on MacArthur Road and 31 on Fullerton Avenue; in 2012, MacArthur Road saw 544 accidents and Fullerton Avenue 37; in 2013, there were 387 accidents on MacArthur Road and 40 on Fullerton Avenue; in 2014, MacArthur Road experienced 488 accidents and Fullerton Avenue 27; and in 2015, there were 505 accidents on MacArthur Road and 27 on Fullerton Avenue.

Bealer said the primary causes for such accidents include failure to pay attention and texting.

“Wear seat belts,” Bealer stressed. “Don’t drive distracted. [Texting is] probably everywhere.”

Bealer also noted the difference between a reckless driver and what is commonly known as road rage.

“We can have a reckless driver [who] doesn’t intentionally try to provoke a road rage incident,” he explained. “Opposite that, we can have a road rage incident where no actual reckless driving occurred, but one of the parties perceived the other as doing something wrong and then tried to confront them.”

The individual officer, Bealer added, ultimately makes the determination based on the circumstances.

Construction zones also may play a role in leading to motor vehicle accidents, but such accidents tend to taper off as drivers become accustomed to the changes.

“With construction zones, there does seem to be more accidents at the onset of the project. Then as people get used to the new traffic patterns, accidents decrease,” Bealer said.

“This happened at the Fullerton Avenue/Route 22 area. At first, we were going to several accidents a week, and now we are down to only a few. I also credit the project managers with being willing to reevaluate current signage and make changes based on what the accident data was telling us,” Bealer added.