Ohio Commended For Road Safety

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has awarded the 2013 Safety Leadership Award to the state of Ohio. The award was presented to ODOT Director Jerry Wray at the AASHTO annual meeting in Colorado.  Ohio leaders have been commended for their commitment to studying road use and crash data and to partnership with local governments and organizations across Ohio. These partnerships – including with MPOs like TMACOG – have led to cost-effective improvements that have contributed to record-law crashes. Over the past decade, Ohio traffic-related deaths have dropped by 28 percent and serious injuries have dropped by 20 percent. This year, Ohio may reach a new historic low by dipping below 1,000 traffic fatalities statewide.

TMACOG recently completed the Safety Locations and Measures Report for Lucas and Wood counties and southern Monroe County, Michigan. It shows that fatal crashes in the TMACOG planning area have consistently been less than Ohio statewide averages. Serious injury and fatal crash rates have also been holding steady or trending down over the past several years. TMACOG’s Safety Locations and Measures Report is a collection and analysis of crash data that is used by regional planners and engineers. TMACOG’s System Performance and Monitoring committee uses the report to select specific highway locations where safety measures are recommended for implementation.