We include deadly pandemic on the roads of this country quite often here at Jalopnik. Unfortunately, the “I refuse to live in a country that doesn’t allow me to do things that put other people’s lives in danger” crowd continues to do a great job. block any meaningful changes on that front. But thanks to the recent infrastructure bill and the Department of Transport it seems to want to do better in terms of road safety compared to previous administrations, we can really start to see some measurable improvements.
washington articles report that today, DOT announced its plan grants grants to over 500 communities, focusing on regions of the country with the most dangerous roads. The grants will total approximately $800 million and have been announced along with new maps showing The risk largely depends on where you live in this nation.
It’s not a simple rural-urban issue, or. Like parcel puts it, “Depending on the city, county, or state in which Americans live, the risk of them being killed in or by a car varies greatly.” For example, reported maps show that in 2020, Massachusetts has the lowest rate of road traffic fatalities with 4.7 deaths per 100,000 people. On the other hand, Mississippi has a peak of 23.2.
Some areas with disproportionately high road mortality may not be appreciated being called upon by the DOT, but pretending the problem doesn’t exist won’t make it go away. However, targeting funding to areas that need them can be helpful. Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg said: “We have to face it to fix it. “We really need to meet the communities where they are.”
It is a fact that infrastructure is expensive and less populated areas often cannot afford to make their roads safer without outside help. For example, take Fayette County, Iowa, with population is about 19,000 people. District tourist area makes it look absolutely gorgeous, but according to County Engineer Joel D. Fantz, Fayette addresses the issue of running water caused by heavy rain, which causes large dents to form where county roads meet and can cause a collision.
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A $10 million grant will allow Fayette County to add wider shoulders and rumble strips to about 50 miles of road. Iowa had previously given the county money for this project, but the federal government’s assistance will allow it to significantly increase the number of miles of roads it can improve.
“The very thing that [makes] it’s a beautiful place to live that also makes some road maintenance problems difficult,” Fantz said. Then he added: “We can’t solve all the problems, but we can try to do what we can.… We are going to make a big difference here in our county.”
Thirty-seven safety-focused construction grants were also announced totaling $590 million. Those will be used for a variety of projects such as building “covered walkways in South Los Angeles, protected bike lanes in Atlanta, downtown crosswalks in Tampa.” and the pedestrian shelter in Charlotte.”
In addition to talking about the differences between regions of our country can become safer, Buttigieg also emphasizes places where there are did a great job, including Jersey City, where there was no reported road deaths last year, as did Evanston, Illinois and Edina, Minnesota.
“A lot of people laugh at the idea that you can have a nationwide traffic accident fatality rate of 0, even though we usually have a zero rate when it comes to airline deaths,” Buttigieg said. no passengers. “The more we can add to that list, the less this seems like a vain goal.”
