If this intersection has been talked about for over a decade, it sounds like a lot of people got lucky and one person got unlucky, causing the deaths of a bunch of people.

There was a notorious corner near where I live. A family friend was going to work and taking his kids to school, as well as another kid, I believe. He and most or all of the people got hit by a truck and died. 4 or 5 people, obviously devastating for the families. Also not the first accident at that corner, major or minor. (This is a major intersection, thousands of vehicles a day, so even infrequent events happen a lot.)Sure, I could get angry at the truck driver. Alternatively, I could get frustrated with the local government for leaving an obviously dangerous intersection unchanged. It's finally getting altered, presumably to make it safer.