Kosciusko County is not included in a report that highlights the top 5 percent of Indiana intersections and state highways with higher-than-average fatalities needing structural improvements.
The report, conducted by Indiana Department of Transportation this year, titled the Five Percent Report, was released Thursday.Cities and towns in the report with higher-than-average fatality or serious injury crash rates in need of structural improvements included Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Plymouth, Elkhart and Goshen.
The report was named the Five Percent Report because it lists the 5 percent of intersection and highway locations with the most severe safety needs in Indiana, according to INDOT public information officer Stacie McCormick.
Analysts looked at factors including crash frequency, rate and severity to rank the locations, McCormick said.
The site selection process was defined to place more weight on the locations where fatal and serious injury crashes occurred.
In addition, the report was expanded to include the intersections of state roads with local roads.
In coming years, the report will be expanded to include all local road systems.
As a result of the first 5 percent report in 2006, safety experts conducted more than 70 on-site safety reviews across Indiana.
In the report, INDOT used crash data to identify 96 intersections and 14 road segments for possible safety review. The locations listed on the report account for more than 5 percent of all Indiana fatality or serious injury crashes in the past three years.
"Kosciusko County was looked at in the study, but not determined to be in the top 5 percent of fatalities or serious injury crash rates due to less population and fewer traffic volume compared to larger cities with more traffic," McCormick said.
Ann Sweet, founder of Focus on Safety and national spokesperson for the Stop Red Light Running campaign, said in a phone interview this morning she is pleased that Kosciusko County is not in the report.
She also said the report could be misleading because it was aimed at identifying intersections and state highways that are in need of structural improvements, and did not address driving behavior, which she said is the leading cause of crashes.
Kosciusko County received a $31,000 grant from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute in November for increased patrolling for impaired drivers and red-light runners on U.S. 30.
"Statistics are tragedies with a tear wiped away, every time there is a traffic death, friends, family and the community suffers," Sweet said.
INDOT is currently in the process of developing projects at the locations where engineers conducted the reviews and identifying feasible infrastructure projects to improve safety.
Those intersections and state highways not currently scheduled for remediation will undergo a safety evaluation by a team of INDOT engineers.
The teams will identify possible solutions to correct any roadway deficiencies using engineering, education, emergency response and enforcement.
