There have recently been a number of accidents on rural roads in the surrounding area, all leading to death or serious injury. The most recent, a two car crash, resulting in two fatalities. This incident occurred in Woodburn, on French Prairie Road near the intersection of Lebrun Road, at approximately 7A.M. on November 6th.Throughout Marion County, rural roads consist of hills, abrupt stops, sharp turns, and areas that narrow leaving little to no shoulder for evasive maneuvers. Though this is not especially unique to the area, it does present it's own form of driving challenges when coupled with increasingly inclement weather.
Passing distance, speed, road surface, the vehicles involved, environmental conditions, and countless other variables are all important things to consider while driving. On rural two-lane roads, at speeds at or above 50mph, they become critical concerns that should not be taken lightly! Many questions have been raised about the best practices concerning road marking criteria, safety enhancements such as rumble strips, and modern road treatments that increase traction while decreasing stopping distance. The specific criteria that is currently in use can be found in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and on the Department of Highway Safety website (www.flhsmv.gov/).
Though many methods for increasing safety are available, the implementation of the strategies on rural roads can be limited by many factors: the size of the roadway, existing properties, access point locations(do mainly to road utilization by agricultural vehicles and equipment), and especially by local budgets.
A report cited by the Department of transportation - commissioned by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (http://www.highwaysafety.org), originally published by Ryerson University of Toronto - showed a twenty percent reduction in accidents on rural roads where center and shoulder Rumble Strips were installed.
A segment of the above study was done in Oregon. Two sites were monitored for a set period of time, where previously there were a total of 31 accidents resulting in 20 injuries, saw a reduction to a total of 6 accidents resulting in 3 injuries - after the installation of the rumble strips.
Though this would not have prevented this last incident, such enhancements could very well serve to prevent future accidents.
Links Related to the story and more on this topic:
- http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2014/11/06/crash-kills-two-shuts-down-french-prairie-road/18588911/
- https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/humanfac/pdfs/99206.pdf
- http://lanecountymugshots.com/2014/11/two-dead-head-vehicle-crash/
- http://koin.com/2014/06/19/5-injured-in-2-vehicle-head-on-crash-near-woodburn/
- http://www.pamplinmedia.com/mop/157-news/227649-90625-woman-dies-in-highway-211-accident-between-molalla-and-woodburn
- http://www.flashalert.net/news.html?id=1294
- http://d2dtl5nnlpfr0r.cloudfront.net/tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-4618-1.pdf
- http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM/CRO/Pages/answer_team.aspx
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_surface_marking
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble_strip
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout
- http://bikeportland.org/2014/10/02/bike-lane-rumble-strips-hawthorne-viaduct-coming-next-week-111768
- https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/rumblestrips
- http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/10052/
- http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/local_rural/
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