Numbers make my head hurt. Seriously. I prefer my data to be disseminated in descriptive narrative form, in small doses, with enough time for a beverage or a walk break in-between each new piece of information. Yet I know that data is important, especially with regard to highway safety.
“Statistics regarding street and highway accidents are so vital to any comprehensive understanding and treatment of the safety problem that their collection and analysis in every State and community are essential.”
National Safety Conference – 1924 Washington D.C.
In the U.P., gathering and analyzing data is critical to obtaining resources to fix traffic safety problems. Because our region has low population numbers, it is difficult to justify spending large amounts of money to fix a non-specific crash problem when a metro area may show a better "bang for the buck."
When we can identify a particular crash problem occuring in a specific area to a population group over time, we can begin to evaluate ways to make a difference. For instance, if it can be shown statistically that 18-34 year old males driving pick-up trucks after drinking alcohol in Delta County tend to crash more often, we can allocate resources, like overtime law enforcement, to impact the problem. (Delta County DID have this problem. Several years of effort by the law enforcement agencies in Delta County lowered the crash rate significantly. Targeting problem areas with proven countermeasures works wonders.)
The Michigan Traffic Crash Facts website is a simply brilliant tool designed to show exactly what the crash problem in Michigan is, where it is located, and who is involved. There is a special tab with data specific to the Upper Peninsula, where data going back to 1999 is listed. For instance, it is easy to find out how many crashes happened in 2006 in Marquette County that involved bicyclists and alcohol use. (If that happens to interest you.) To check out this amazing resource, click on http://www.michigantrafficcrashfacts.org/.
If, like me, you feel a headache coming on when you have to research crash statistics, this is one resource that will not leave you in pain!
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