By U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud
(D-Maine)
According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008, Maine had the fourth highest percentage of fatal crashes on rural roads in the nation. These crashes represented 90 percent of the state’s road fatalities for that year. And early estimates from 2010 data indicate that New England states have seen an 18 percent increase in fatal crashes over 2009.
Nationally, road travelers are 2? times more likely to die on a rural road than on an urban one. Although rural roads bear only 40 percent of all travel, 56.7 percent of annual deaths occur on them.
These are alarming statistics, which point to the need to focus on improving safety measures on our rural roads in Maine and throughout the country. Unfortunately, a federal program designed to help states do just that made only made a marginal difference.
Congress created the High Risk Rural Roads program in 2005 as a part of last multi-year update of federal transportation programs. This program authorized $90 million each year for all 50 states. Even with the use of low cost safety solutions, these funds were stretched dramatically thin. In addition, the definition of “high risk rural road” was restrictive, which added to the states’ difficulty in accessing the much-needed funding.
That’s why on June 3rd, I introduced the High Risk Rural Roads Safety Act, which will make it easier for rural states like Maine to invest in road safety measures in order to save lives.
More specifically, the bill will address these problems by giving states the tools that they need to identify where accidents are most likely to occur and establishing a commonsense definition of a high risk rural road. It will also provide the resources necessary to make a difference by investing $400 million annually for cost effective roadway safety infrastructure improvements to help reduce fatalities and create jobs. Additionally, the bill targets rural road safety investments to help keep rural residents as safe as possible. Such improvements, which can include improved signs and pavement markings, guardrail and cable barrier installation, and rumble strips, are generally low cost and yield tremendous returns on investment.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that I serve on is currently in the process of updating federal transportation programs for the next several years. It is a wide ranging bill that will touch not only on road safety issues, but also on congestion relief, environmental issues, research, regional initiatives, and programs to fix and replace old roads and bridges.
As we work to ensure that our country maintains a modern transportation system, safety must continue to be a top concern. In rural states like Maine, where travel options are often limited to roads, roadway safety is even more important. And with fatalities on the rise in New England states, the case for acting is even stronger.
It’s my hope that this new rural road safety initiative and a permanent fix to Maine’s truck weight problem are included in the final bill. These issues are too important to our state and our nation not to address.
