Questions linger about why traffic lights were blinking, not solid at fatal crash scene

The crash occurred at the intersection of Portland and South Main streets; inset Michael Collins (Courtesy)

ROCHESTER - Neither Rochester Police nor the city's Department of Public Works have released information on why the stoplights at the corner of South Main Street and Portland Street were blinking, not solid, at the time of a fatal motorcycle accident in August.
The Aug. 19 crash took the life of 54-year-old Michael Collins of Rochester, who was killed when his 2010 Harley Davidson FLHTC collided with a 2016 Toyota Corolla being driven by Kimberlee Raymond, 22, of Rochester.
Rochester Police Capt. Todd Pinkham revealed on Sept. 18 that after a monthlong investigation police had verified what witnesses to the crash had said: that the lights for South Main Street traffic were blinking yellow, while Portland Street was blinking red.
The crash occurred on Aug. 19 around 7:40 p.m. just as dusk settled on the city.
According to police, Collins was traveling on South Main Street headed north toward Central Square, while the Toyota had turned from Charles Street onto Portland Street by the Service Credit Union drive-thru and was going to proceed straight through the light to continue on Portland Street toward Windjammers restaurant.
Peter Crouch, New Hampshire's supervisor of traffic signals, said on Thursday that there are several reasons why a traffic light that is normally solid green-yellow-red would go to blinking, but noted that Rochester's Department of Public Works maintains the city's downtown traffic signals, not the state of New Hampshire.
Crouch said the problem is usually in one of three places: the traffic control signal box on the lighpole, the traffic signal controllers or the memory malfunction unit, or MMU.
"If there's any kind of problem like all the lights have gone solid green, the system overrides and they go to blinking," he said. "We have one of these problems like every other day."

He said a recent DOT survey revealed that there were about 900 traffic signals in the state, with half owned by the DOT and half owned by municipalities like Rochester, Manchester or Keene.
Crouch said other factors that can lead to a malfunction are corrosion, mice chewing on wires, heat cycles or lightning strikes.
He said the state regularly checks signal boxes to look for signs of mice or other potential hazards.
The Rochester Voice reached out to Rochester Public Works Director Peter Nourse by phone and email in the last week for comment on what may have caused the lights to be blinking at the scene of the fatal crash, but we have not yet heard back from him.