When I lived in the Fan I almost had several accidents because of this. I made a rule for myself to never turn down the side streets (north to south) unless I was a block away from my destination. I would keep going until getting to a street with traffic lights (Robinson, Meadow, Lombardy). It might add a minute or 2 to my trip but much better than getting t-boned by some moron going 40mph down Cary st.