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September 29, 2006
CRASH FEARS, BUDGET CUTS SPUR STATE HIGHWAY CONCERNS
More people are traveling by car than air for shorter trips and road fatality statistics are on the increase, ConsumerAffairs.com notes in a special report, and these factors are prompting states to step up efforts to make roads safer. But “budget crunches are forcing states to find low-cost ways” to reduce crashes and injuries.
“Such solutions range from repainting roadways to substituting cable for concrete when building barriers… At least four states -- Illinois, New York, Texas, and Virginia -- are experimenting with optical speed bars, short parallel white lines perpendicular to the typical down-the-middle lines. Four other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington State, are trying white dots designed to discourage tailgating.“Wisconsin officials say cable barriers - designed to prevent head-on collisions caused by motorists who cross lanes into oncoming traffic - work because they absorb impact better than concrete. They also don't cost as much. Removing roadside barriers, from trees to light poles, also helps. Many states have installed breakaway barriers, most notably on supports for overpasses, that ‘give’ when struck by a car. Georgia, reacting to figures that show three of four fatalities occur when cars hit trees, is reacting by removing roadside trees.”
Posted by MVHAP at September 29, 2006 11:29 AM