Working to reduce traffic fatalities

MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The State of Michigan has been working on a plan for years, hoping to drastically reduce the number of deaths occurring on Michigan roads, and they're starting to work.

It was a winter morning on US-131 in 2008 when David Sims got a call from State Police about two workers from his electrical company. One of them was his brother-in-law.

“They were heading northbound,” said Sims. “They had a green S-10 Chevy truck. They were driving as the witnesses said, 'the speed limit.'”

Tragically, the person across the highway in the opposite lane, wasn't driving slow enough for the slippery conditions.

“He hit a car heading southbound,” said Sims, “went into the median, went airborne and hit my workers head on. Flipped their truck over, killing one instantly. The other held onto his life for an hour.”

Today, two crosses mark the spot where Sims' brother-in-law and neighbor died.

“It's been devastating to our family and to the other man's family,” said Sims.

Along that same stretch of highway, near Dorr, there is a line of new barriers, potentially life-saving rows of cables and posts.

“My two friends could have been alive today if they had been up at the time of the accident,” said Sims of the new safety measures, “could have been fine and living today.”

Nearly 1,100 people die on Michigan roads every year. The State of Michigan is working to reduce fatal traffic crashes by nearly 22 percent by 2012 and those strategies can be seen and, in the case of rumble strips, heard on roads all around the state.

“The fatals are all down across the state,” said Sgt. Jim Campbell, of the Michigan State Police. “That has a lot to do with the engineering designing of the roadways.”

While traffic engineers can't eliminate distractions and bad decision-making, new road design can play a role in getting drivers to pay attention.

In West Michigan, newly added center rumble strips now alert drivers that they are crossing lanes. More rumble strips have also been added before stop signs and more traffic circles like the one installed near South Haven are in the works.

In Mattawan, M-DOT is working on plans for roundabouts just off I-94 on both sides of the overpass.

“Initially there may be some increases in the actually crash rate,” said Sgt. Campbell, “injuries are going down, and the severity of the crashes are going down as people get used to them.”

The new measures do come with a price, the centerline rumble strips on 5,700 miles of state roadways will cost eight million, and the three-year cable barrier project will cost more than $40 million for 280 miles of roadway.

“One of the questions we get frequently is why don't you fix potholes with it,” said Nick Schirripa, M-DOT spokesperson.

The answer is that money for the projects comes back to Michigan from the gas tax, and the federal government requires a percentage of that money be used for safety, not road upkeep or construction. Plus, fatal accidents come with a cost themselves.

“Federal statics we've seen,” said Schirripa, “one fatality represents a $3.5 million hit to the economy.”

Those with personal stories of tragedy see the safety measures as an investment in keeping people alive.

“I think it's absolutely wonderful, and hopefully they work,” said Sims. “People don't realize until they get that phone call, whether an accident or fatality. Everybody takes everything for granted. This road here, if you drive up and down US-131, there's a lot of crosses out there and there shouldn't have to be.”

In addition to fatal accidents, the state has also set a goal of reducing serious traffic accidents 21 percent by 2012.