Risk Maps May Help Reduce Florida Auto Accidents and Traffic Deaths

Today at Fetterman & Associates we want you aware about the road safety in Florida and even in United States. Road safety is critical to reducing accidents, but how do we know which roads are safe to travel and which roads should be avoided? How do state and federal highway authorities know where to allocate scarce resources to the highest priority areas? The United States Road Assessment Program (usRAP), an ambitious program of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, may provide the answers to both questions.

For the average driver, usRAP creates Risk Maps so that travelers can see at a glance which roads have statistically higher crash rates, helping them to plan their trips and perhaps choose an alternate, safer route. usRAP also creates Star Rating Maps that rank roads based on engineering features. The Star Rating Maps can provide valuable guidance to transportation agencies considering road improvements. These maps can help correct road defects and road hazards and can be useful to Florida DOT as well as the Federal Highway Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that supports state and local governments in the design, construction, and maintenance of the nation’s highway system. usRAP has mapped the highway systems in about eight states to date. One of the first risk maps created was one for the State of Florida. Created in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Risk Map provides some very interesting and helpful information. For instance, from 2001 to 2005 there were over 12,000 crashes that resulted in death or serious injury on Florida’s rural state highway system roads, a system more than 6,000 miles long but that in terms of annual vehicle miles of travel exceeds 25 billion. The maps provide a visual picture of the roads most likely to have a fatal or serious injury crash, as well as specific causes for crashes, including alcohol or drug use and lane departure crashes.

Until the Roads are Perfectly Safe, You may still Need the Law Team

We all want to travel safely on the roads, and it is great than an organization such as the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is taking the initiative to help reduce auto accidents and fatalities. Unfortunately, risk maps and public safety campaigns can only go so far in helping people choose safer routes and discouraging inattentive, distracted driving, or downright recklessness on the roads. If you are injured in an automobile, truck or motorcycle accident on southern Florida roads or highways, contact Fetterman & Associates – The Law Team – for a free evaluation of your case.