Deputy Secretary Barrett: University of Minnesota Working to Make Rural Roads Safer

Today I visited the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety at the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.  There, I saw first-hand the exciting research they are doing to make our roads safer, and announced that the University will be home to a national clearinghouse for information about the best way to make our rural roads safer. 

Over the past decades, we have made great progress in improving safety and reducing deaths nationally—but rural roads are still some of our most dangerous.  Even though rural roads carry less than half of America’s traffic,   they are home to over half of the nation’s vehicular deaths. 

That is why Secretary Peters asked me to lead the Department’s Rural Safety Initiative—a national strategy to improve rural safety by bringing new focus, including resources and new technology, to a growing safety problem.

Rural areas face a number of unique highway safety challenges.  Rural crashes are more likely to be at higher speeds, victims in rural areas tend to be unbelted, and it often takes first responders longer to arrive at the scene of a rural crash, leaving victims waiting longer to be taken to a hospital.  And of course, outdated roadway designs and hazards such as utility poles and trees close to the roadway are major contributors to rural crashes.   

Smarter, low-cost options like rumble strips and improved signage are readily available and can be deployed quickly.  In metro areas, these solutions are already being implemented and working.

The groundbreaking research being conducted at the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety, including the smart vehicles I saw, is exactly the type of innovation and forward thinking we need to reduce fatalities on our rural roads.

The central mission at the Center is to provide a national platform on which we can share these solutions.  We’re going to distribute the lessons that are being learned here by this institution’s researchers and by researchers around the nation to transportation officials and first responders nationwide. 

The University will collect and distribute lessons that are being learned by transportation officials that are successfully combating rural road fatalities.  The only way we will cut the number of deaths and injuries on the nation’s roads is by finding a way to get officials the right information at the right time.   The University of Minnesota is going to do just that.

Improving safety on our rural roads is a challenge that we have the experience, the ability, and the resources to address.  We can make our rural roads safer, and, with the contribution of the University of Minnesota, we can do it now.

-Deputy Secretary Barrett

Comments

[SalineVance]

Deputy Secretary Barrett,

Another factor contributing to rural road safety is the misguided notion that it's OK to exceed the speed limit since there are fewer other cars around with which to be concerned. Add to that mix the occasional deer jumping out in front of you (this happens a lot here in Michigan), and you've got the recipe for some mangled wreckage at times.

I applaud your efforts to improve rural road safety!

[Richard L. Duley]

I would like to know the source of the information quoted on the reasons for crashes and deaths in rural areas. Especially utility poles compared to trees. Also what specific items of research are there to reduce this statistic?

[Ashton]

A lot of Deers run out in front of cars here in KY also. I too applaud your efforts Mr. Barrett.

Thank You

[Steven Goetz]

I also would like to see the studies that find roadside obstacles being major contributors to rural crashes. Roadside obstacles can be expensive and controversial to remove. Do these studies identify corrective measures that are effective, short of removing the obstacle? In the Bay Area, rural roads are becoming commute routes as housing moves to rural areas.

[Jim Grapes]

Washington State has made our roads safer by banning cell phone use while driving. Why are there only five states that place limits on cell phones while driving?

[Jason Lu]

And also, thank you, Mr. Barrett, for your contributions to our transportation system. We need new light on America though. Our transportation system is outdated, and sometimes, we can't be so conservative. We need to observe the best of the best (i.e., the U.K., Germany, etc), benchmark that standard, and aim beyond that. America needs to take the lead. You have the power to do it. Thank you again!

[Brandy]

I live in a rural area as well, cows and dogs are a big problem, people traveling too fast and then approaching an unknown bend in the road is another one.The biggest problem though, in my opinion, is road maintenance. These roads are usually rarely maintained and have large potholes and rough edges so most people purposely drive in the middle to avoid the damaged part of the road. Ours are blacktop and have to be redone very often. I don't know the cost difference between blacktop and concrete but it seems like the concrete road would be much more cost efficient and the road would stay in better shape much longer. Also, most of the roads have no signs with their name on it, and then the roads have 2 names. Lost drivers cause many problems, sudden braking, u-turns in the middle of the road, "rushed" driving, not to mention the drivers they anger. I could go on and on with the problems, sure rumble strips may help, but how long are those strips going to last? Rumble strips go on the edge of the road, the edge of the road is the first thing that starts breaking off and crumbling. Certain parts of rural roads are already crumbling a month after being repaved, the rumble strip will not last the life of the road. Another idea would be to paint stripes on the road to mark lanes, it would really help visibility at night and in the rain, of course again you run into the maintenance issue, so maybe the best safety measure they can take is just to maintain the roads.

[Jim R Hyde Jr]

I personally think it is time to stop fooling ourselves about safety. Until we install RFID chip technology to regulate the speeds of all vehicles (i.e. Speed Limit-35mph, car is governed to 35mph until reaching a higher speed zone). The majority of close calls on rural highways come from people trying to pass other people because they think they are in a big hurry. There is no excuse for speeding and what gives any person the right to put me in harms way because they think they are entitled to go fast? The technology I speak about could be used for construction, and school zones as well. After experiencing over one million miles on the road it is clear to me that the general public is not capable or responsible enough to regulate their own speed, and there are no arguments for going faster. Simply stated, speed kills!