'Roadway departures' cause 2/3 of Oregon traffic fatalities
EUGENE, Ore. - More than half the fatal traffic crashes in the United States involve a vehicle leaving the travel lane and crashing head-on into another car or colliding with the landscape along the road.
In Oregon, however, such "roadway departure crashes" account for 2/3 of all traffic fatalities.
The Oregon Department of Transportation gave Oregon State Police a grant to fund overtime to patrol specific stretches of Oregon road where such crashes have been most prevalent.
The goal is to help lower these types of crashes in specific highway locations identified as some of the worst areas in the state.
ODOT identified the highway locations following a review of crash analysis data.
In addition to enforcement, ODOT engineers will look at whether the roadways themselves could be made safer.
State police enforcement will target contributing factor traffic violations that data shows are associated with roadway departure crashes such as speed, failure to maintain a traffic lane, failure to drive on right side of highway, distracted driving and DUII.
State police planned stepped up enforcement through September 2013 on the following roads:
Specific locations for increased OSP enforcement include:
- Highway 26 (east of Sandy) milepost 28 - 37 and milepost 45 - 55 (OSP Portland / Government Camp)
- Highway 101 (Bay City south of Tillamook) milepost 61 - 67 and 76 - 81 (OSP Tillamook)
- Highway 6 (east of Tillamook) milepost 10 - 16 (OSP Tillamook)
- Highway 6 (west of Banks) milepost 30 - 36 (OSP North Plains)
- Highway 26 (east of Seaside) milepost 10 - 15 and milepost 20 - 26 (OSP Astoria)
- Highway 101 (between Depoe Bay and Newport) milepost 127 - 133 (OSP Newport)
- Highway 101 (south of Newport) milepost 148 - 154 (OSP Newport)
- Highway 18 (east of Highway 101) milepost 0 - 10 (OSP Newport)
- Highway 20 (east of Newport) milepost 0 - 5 (OSP Newport)
- Highway 34 (east of Waldport) milepost 0 - 5 (OSP Newport)
- Highway 42 (west of Winston) milepost 75 - 77 (OSP Roseburg)
- Highway 38 (east of Coos Bay) milepost 0 - 10 (OSP Coos Bay)
- Highway 199 (north of Cave Junction) milepost 14 - 24 (OSP Grants Pass)
- Interstate 5 (north of Grants Pass) milepost 70 - 80 (OSP Central Point / Grants Pass)
- Highway 97 (north of Bend) milepost 128 - 133 (OSP Bend)
- Highway 97 (south of Bend) milepost 143 - 158 (OSP Bend / La Pine)
- Highway 20 (west of Sisters) milepost 92 - 97 (OSP Bend)
- Highway 26 (west of Madras) milepost 107 - 112 (OSP Bend / Madras)
Driving too fast is almost always the reason for this type of crashes. Ice and water only makes it more dangerous...Â
99% of all drivers on our nations highways and city streets drive too damn fast, aren't really engaged in what they are doing nor are the paying attention to what is around them, be in front, to the side, or in back of them. They are thinking about everything and anything except for what they should be doing which is DRIVING!Â
 There is a big difference between driving and steering a vehicle down the road...
 I was steering my fathers Chevy Impala while sitting on his lap when I was ten years old, that is NOT driving..!
Yet the police stubbornly refuse to enforce any traffic law that isn't speeding. We need to start charging those that text and drive with misdemeanors, and heavily enforcing it. It's easier to recognize them than it is to recognize drunk drivers because they spend their time at each stoplight glancing down into their lap, so there's no excuse for ignoring this.
I tend to think we need a lot more guardrails, especially on windy, 2 lane roads with steep drop-offs. I generally brush it off as just being a side effect of being from an extremely flat terrain with no naturally occurring trees, but this seems to support my opinion. Scary.Â
@PleaseBeSmart Guardrails are very effective, but funds are harder to come by than they should be. I just have a really hard time understanding how people manage to drive off the road in the first place. If you're devoting the attention to driving that it warrants, it should be nearly impossible, IMO.
@Doc Well there's always ice, trying to avoid animals or drivers coming around a corner half in your lane.. even without things like that I get a little nervous though. It just seems like a simple solution that could save a lot of lives. Don't get me started on the funding issues in this state...
Yet another parasitic police state revenue enhancement scheme.
Leaving the roadway and hitting a tree can kill you.... How much was spent on this study?
It would be interesting to know how many of these are cell phone and texting related as versus falling asleep, going to fast, animals, etc. There should not be that many people running off the road.Â
ban road way departures
@censoredirawoodyThe car was attacked by an assault tree. We should do everything possible to remove these threats.