You can see the deep rut in Tim De- Lotto’s lawn. It runs from near the corner of Strickler and County roads, diagonally across the grass for more than 50 feet, before stopping an arm’s length from his garage.

The gash marks the path of the death car in last week’s horrible accident in Clarence. Authorities say 18-year-old Viktor Shapiro, driving with three other teens, sped through the stop sign at Strickler and was T-boned by a minivan heading west on County. All four teens died. A passenger in the minivan was badly injured. And a long-unsafe rural crossroads claimed more victims.

Welcome to an absurdity of an intersection. All that marks the north-south corners of Strickler are a couple of stop signs. Nothing on County—a blow-your-doors- off straightaway—alerts drivers to the crossroads.

There is no flashing red/yellow traffic light. There are no oversized stop signs, bumper strips or other Traffic Safety 101 remedies at a straight-shot, 55 mph-meets- 45 mph convergence.

I stood near the crossroads Monday afternoon. The 18-wheelers and SUVs barrel along County as if 55 mph is a suggestion, not a speed limit. Cars heading west come over a hill, giving drivers heading north on Strickler little time to turn onto County. “I would go with a blinking [red/yellow] light,” said Sue Errick, who lives at the opposite corner from DeLotto. “They need bigger stop signs, or signs on both sides of [Strickler].”

Or not. County officials say that the intersection is safe and that proper safety measures are in place. Which raises the question:How much mayhem has to happen at this crossroads before folks are given a fighting chance?

Granted, Shapiro—who had a lousy driving record and a reputation for recklessness— reportedly blew through the stop sign at 90 mph. There could have been a moat there and it might not have mattered. But this was the fourth accident DeLotto witnessed over the last seven years, two of which launched vehicles onto his lawn. He saw signs of others.

“I’ve come home from work,” said De- Lotto, a straight-ahead guy with a bulldog build, “and seen a headlight or pieces of a car lying there.”

A retired sheriff’s deputy told me that the intersection has been a problem for years. The next crossroads east on County Road, at Salt Road, has a blinking red/yellow light. The intersection to the west, at Goodrich, has a full traffic light. Strickler, equally dangerous, gets a couple of stop signs.

I don’t think that anything would have slowed Shapiro. But better signals at the crossroads would give careful drivers a fighting chance to avoid clueless, drunken or lead-footed lawbreakers.

Roger Krieger, a retired Erie County sheriff’s deputy, said a traffic study in the 1970s cited County Road at Strickler as a problem. “When you get these small intersecting roads with just a single stop sign, you have problems,” said Krieger, a former accident investigator. “That intersection should have been addressed a long time ago.”

I’m no expert, but even I can spot an accident waiting to happen. Drive west on County toward Strickler, like the minivan was. A stand of evergreens on the left cuts off the view of approaching cars on Strickler. The lack of a flashing yellow light gives drivers no warning of a coming intersection.

This is not advanced calculus. A blinking red/yellow light would slow drivers on County and alert motorists on Strickler. Add oversized stop signs and bumper strips on Strickler.

“You’re talking maybe a couple of thousand bucks for double [stop] signs and bumper strips,” Krieger said. “What is a human life worth?”

It is a question we should not have to ask again.